Friends
by raspberry dreams
Summary: Spencer & Tony meet post Plague/ Anthrax facing the challenges of dealing with the damage to their lungs together, they forge a firm friendship. The timeline of the shows has been changed so that the Criminal Minds episode 'Amplification' occurs a couple of weeks after the NCIS episode 'Swak.' I have also taken liberties with the length of time that passes between these episodes.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"How is it going with the physio?" Dr Brad Pitt asked as he finished listening to Tony's chest. Tony had been discharged from Bethesda after making a nearly miraculous recovery from an experimental antibiotic resistant form of bubonic plague, but all miracles have their price and the damage to Tony's lungs was extensive. He was making progress but it was still uncertain whether the very special agent would recover enough to return to the field. Tony and Brad were both still cautiously optimistic and highly motivated but Tony was finding the rehabilitation program that Bethesda offered to be more emotionally challenging than he'd expected.

"The exercises themselves are going well I suppose, but the group is just too depressing to be worth what little gains I've made. Please say I don't need to go back. I can't face all those old people again Brad" Tony replied. "None of them have any real hope that the treatment or physiotherapy will make much difference it just gets me down. It's worse than watching my Buckeyes get thrashed by your Wolverines would be, not that that's likely to happen."

"My Wolverines are well set to deliver that thrashing in a couple of weeks" Brad fired back automatically before dealing with the serious issue. "You need the therapy and you know your insurance won't pay for one on one therapy while there's a suitable group available" he replied firmly, he was sympathetic but he couldn't think of another option.

"The group isn't suitable. It's just too depressing. I feel like slitting my wrists by the time I manage to escape from all the old fogies. And they're all such busybodies. They want to know what happened to me in every gory detail and they're getting pissed that I can't tell them. Even if it wasn't classified, just finding out that it's possible for someone to send something like that through the mail will cause a panic. Let alone risking giving some old crackpot with a grudge the idea of trying it." Tony moaned. "Give me the exercise program or something and I'll do it on my own."

Brad frowned. He'd heard from the pulmonary physio how tough Tony was finding the group but he really didn't want Tony working on his own with this, his lungs were too fragile, for the moment he needed to either do his workouts somewhere that he had someone standing by ready to administer oxygen if he needed it or scale back on the exertion to a level that it wouldn't give him anywhere near as much benefit. "That's not the best idea, unless one of your colleagues would be willing to supervise you and monitor you breathing while you exercise" he said. "Or a friend outside the agency, if you can get them the clearance to be told about the damage to your lungs and what symptoms to look out for and actions to take."

"The team are on a case they won't have time to babysit me" Tony replied, not wanting to burden his team mates. He wasn't prepared to show that sort of weakness in front of Gibbs or Kate, for totally different reasons of course, and he couldn't see Tim being willing to come clear across town from the hovel of an apartment he lived in to help out the senior who pranked him mercilessly. Ducky probably would if he were asked but Tony knew he had his hands full dealing with his elderly monther. And his frat buddies were fun to hang around with to go out for a night on the town or shoot some hoops but they were an escape from the seriousness of his professional life, he didn't want to ruin that by dragging him into this.

Brad remembered some gossip he'd heard whispers of lately on the grapevine. "I think I might have an idea. Let me consult a colleague of mine and talk to the powers that be and see if it pans out" Brad said thoughtfully. "Unless you're willing to pay for private physio yourself, but few of them specialise in respiratory physio, I could make some calls for you."

Tony groaned. "I'd pay not to have to go back to that group again" he admitted reluctantly. "I just can't face it."

"Leave it with me and I'll get back to you" Brad promised.

"Thanks Brad."

"Dr Kimura" Linda Kimura answered her phone professionally later that afternoon.

"Good afternoon. It's Dr Brad Pitt at Bethesda. I'm calling because I have a unique and classified problem that if the rumours I've heard lately are true you could possibly help me with" Brad introduced himself.

"Oh" Linda asked curiously.

"I have an agent in need of pulmonary rehab following an acute illness that I can't discuss. His insurance is refusing to pay for one on one therapy and when I tried to fit him into our existing groups he found mixing with the other clients distressing. My other clients are all older retired sailors and have chronic or potentially fatal lung diseases. I heard you currently had a younger more acute group of clients that he hopefully could fit into. A group that are expected to make improvements and get back to a normal life?" Brad suggested.

"I can't talk about that" Linda said firmly.

"That's okay, the cause of Special Agent DiNozzo's illness is also classified" Brad replied. "I realise this is unusual but if it gets my man the help he needs to return to a normal life without causing him a major depression from having to face his worst-case scenario every time he walks into the gym or letting him compromise his safety by using a personal trainer instead of a qualified physiotherapist then it's worth bending a few small rules."

Linda smiled to herself at her colleagues willingness to go the extra mile for his patient.

"I can't fit him into the main group I have going but we also have a young agent receiving one on one pulmonary rehab that could do with some peer support from somebody that understands not being able to talk about classified situations actually means. Send me what information you can on your man and I'll discuss it with the decision makers and get back to you" Linda said. She thought that meeting a fellow agent with similar lung issues might do her patient some good as well if their lung function was similar, but she was prepared to turn her colleague down if she thought the differences in function and recovery would be likely to upset or discourage the young agent she'd come to like and respect.

"Thanks Linda" Brad said gratefully, "I'll owe you one."

"I am making no promises. My client has to come first I'm not willing to slot someone else into his therapy sessions if it puts him at a disadvantage" Linda warned.

"I'm sure you'll do your best when you see what I'm working with" Brad said confidently.

"Rescue me from some of the bores at next month's conference and I'll call it even. It might do both our patients some good to know someone in a similar situation" Linda said smiling.

"We'll protect each other" Brad laughed and agreed.

-o0o-

Linda rang back the next morning keen to have SSA Reid meet Special Agent DiNozzo. She thought it would do a lot for her young charge to have the support of someone in the same boat as he was. DiNozzo's original lung damage was slightly worse than Spencer's though he'd obviously had a greater premorbid exercise tolerance and he was several weeks further down the road to recovery putting them in a similar situation at the moment.

Brad was delighted with the offer and quickly wrote down the details of the daily therapy program and promised to send his agent along early for the preliminary assessment.

-o0o-

"Good news Tony I have found you a more appropriate pulmonary rehabilitation program" Brad said enthusiastically, when Tony answered his phone. "The bad news is that it would mean daily visits to Annapolis."

"You guarantee there won't be any dying patients, and no little old ladies who sit gossiping even as they're gasping for breath or tragic old men who freely admit that their lung condition has permanently killed their libido and they don't even have enough energy to regret it?" Tony asked cynically.

"None of that. There's only one other patient in similar circumstances to you" Brad replied. "I can't tell you details and by that, I mean they refused to share them with me, if anything his illness is more classified than your own. But he is also an Agent hoping to regain his field agent status."

"Sounds brilliant" Tony said enthusiastically. "When do I start?"

"Be there at eight tomorrow for a preliminary workup before the session starts at eight thirty Monday to Friday" Brad replied.

"That's early" Tony almost whined.

"Too early for the old codgers" Brad pointed out. "That's the reason they can get access to the gym to run a daily two hour group for only two patients."

Tony nodded understandingly. "I'll make it" he promised.

"I think this will solve your problems and you'll make more progress in a smaller group too" Brad said encouragingly.

"Thanks Brad" Tony said gratefully. He knew the doctor had to have pulled some serious strings to get him included into what had been a private physio session for the other patient.

"You're welcome" Brad replied cheerfully.

-o0o-

Tony turned up early in his designer gym wear, trying to hide his anxiety about the session.

"Hi I'm Jodie and I'll be your therapist today" an attractive lady in her mid forties entered the room energetically.

"Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. You can call me Tony" Tony flirted automatically. His eyes took note of the wedding ring she wore around her neck.

"Welcome Tony. We're going to start by measuring your oxygen stats while we pass through several activities. We'll start on the treadmill. She set it off on a very slow pace gradually increasing the speed until Tony was gasping for breath and struggling to keep up. He began to cough and she stopped the treadmill watching anxiously as he coughed for several minutes before stopping and passing him his water bottle once it was safe to do so. "Okay Tony take a seat and rest while I monitor your recovery" Jodie said cheerfully, though she was quite concerned how quickly the agent had become short of breath. From his physique she could tell that he'd been quite fit before his recent illness. She was concerned about how long it took for him to catch his breath and for his oxygen sats to return to normal.

"Okay the session will start in about ten minutes but you've already worked quite hard for me this morning so please take it easy" she said keeping an eye on him unobtrusively as she set up the rest of the gym for the next couple of sessions.

"Thanks Jodie" Tony said, trying to grin charmingly but not quite succeeding.

-o0o-

Spencer entered the gym surprised to find two people there that he didn't know. Had his therapy time been changed?"

"Um hello" he said shyly.

The physio looked up and smiled at the nervous young man. "Hi I'm Jodie and I'll be taking over from Rob, he's been called away unexpectedly."

"I'm SSA Doctor Spencer Reid. Please call me Spencer or Reid whichever your more comfortable with" Spencer said waving at her awkwardly.

Tony turned to the new arrival surprised at the introduction. The kid barely looked twenty-one and more green than McGee, but he introduced himself as not only a doctor but a Supervisory Special Agent? Hell! The kid outranked him? He stared suspiciously wondering what was so special about this agent to have moved him up the ranks so quickly.

"Welcome Spencer, this is Tony who will be your partner in these sessions. Now I'm aware of the classified nature of both of your lung injuries and I know you understand that neither of you are allowed to discuss the cause of your conditions with me or each other but while I don't know the actual cause for either of you I have had access to your X-rays and lung function tests, what I can say is that you've both received similar lung damage from slightly different causes. So you'll be undergoing a lot of the same treatment and both have a fairly good prognosis for recovering well enough to return to field duty though you will have to be careful with lung infections in the future. Dr Pitt and Dr Kimura thought that having someone in similar circumstances to go through this with, and to talk to as you return to fitness and regain the clearances to return to work would help" Jodie said cheerfully.

Tony smiled but Spencer only looked wary. The morning passed slowly as they worked through their exercises without talking because neither had the breath to spare and collapsed onto the benches provided at the end of the session.

As he caught his breath, Tony decided to put his resentment at being outranked aside and try to get to know this kid he'd be spending a couple of hours a day with for the foreseeable future.

"I work on the MCRT at NCIS, you?" he said.

"What's your clearance?" Spencer asked surprisingly instead of answering.

"Does it matter? I only want to know where you work" Tony said irritated.

"Yeah it does" Spencer replied seriously.

Tony rolled his eyes. "We deal with a lot of espionage and terrorism cases so better than top secret" he replied, giving in to his curiosity.

"I work as a profiler for the FBI, at the BAU and consult for the NSA, homeland and the CIA," Spencer replied. "I probably shouldn't tell you all that though. The fact that I consult is classified, not even all my team know exactly who I consult for."

"What's your doctorate in?" Tony asked. "I take it you're not a medical doctor?"

"Chemistry Mathematics and Engineering" Spencer replied.

"Wow super smart" Tony said impressed.

Spencer surprised him by hanging his head and seemed to be waiting for an insult or even a blow.

"I have a team mate who isn't half as smart as you, graduated high school at fifteen, bachelors from MIT in biomedical engineering and Masters in computer forensics from Johns Hopkins. He's really proud of his degrees almost annoyingly arrogant about them, but you almost seem ashamed of yours" Tony said perceptively.

Spencer immediately shook his head. "I'm not ashamed of my qualifications, I'm proud of the work I did to get them. I've just found that telling people about my PhD's makes it harder to make friends" he admitted blushing. "People resent those that are too much smarter than they are."

"Well it is a little intimidating but I think my ego is healthy enough to cope" Tony said teasingly.

Hr frowned when his words didn't relax his new physio partner. "My team mates would certainly tell you it's big enough."

Spencer still didn't smile.

"You want to grab some dinner?" Tony offered.

Spencer looked up in surprise, "Sure" he said enthusiastically. "What sort of food do you like? There's this great Thai place near my apartment if you're interested.

"Well that depends a lot on where you live" Tony replied laughing.

"E street, about five minutes' walk from union station" Spencer replied. "Or at least it only used to take me five minutes" he added sighing despondently.

Tony could definitely sympathise with that, though he rarely walked anywhere or caught the train.

"Don't you work out at Quantico?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, when we're in town, but I like living in the city and it's not too bad a train journey" Spencer replied. "Where do you live?"

"I own a condo in Dupont Circle" Tony replied.

"How could you afford that on an agent's salary or don't I want to know?" Spencer blurted out. "I'm sorry that was rude of me. I didn't mean to be insulting" he said cringing.

Tony laughed. "It was an ex crime scene, a violent home invasion murder. I originally was going to keep it until the seven year disclosure period was up and make a killing, financially speaking of course. But it's home now."

Spencer laughed too. "Did you work the case?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah it was solved really quickly though so it wasn't one of the ones that haunts you" Tony replied.

Spencer nodded, he understood that. "Still, I work crime scenes all the time but I don't think I'd want to live in one."

"Spence the mortgage payments on my condo were less than I was paying for a dinky little studio apartment. Sure I had to completely redecorate but I kind of enjoyed doing that, well the designing part not so much the manual labour part" Tony said depreciatingly. "I could help you find a place if you want, well once I get back to work, if I get back into the field."

"That sounds good but I haven't any experience with decorating and heaven knows if I'm ever going to be capable of the manual labour. Not to mention I'm sure that plaster dust and paint fumes were on that list of things we're supposed to avoid breathing in" Spencer replied dubiously.

Tony sighed despondently. "Yeah, don't remind me" he said.

"Sorry" Spencer apologised.

"Rule 6 Never apologise it's a sign of weakness" Tony said automatically.

Spencer looked at him in astonishment. "That's ridiculous, if you're in the wrong the best way to clear the air is to admit it and apologize."

"Not if you're Leroy Jethro Gibbs" Tony commented.

"Who?" Spencer asked.

"My Boss. Ex Marine, a real hardass. He has this set of rules he lives by" Tony replied.

"Well I hope the rest are more sensible than that" Spencer replied, before blushing and beginning to stammer apologies again.

"Relax Spencer, I'm not so enamoured by the man that I can't see his bad points" Tony said calmingly. "But seriously you need to stop apologising all the time. Have a little more confidence in yourself. I wouldn't have offered to have dinner with you if I didn't want to. I know you're awkward with this situation and I won't take offence. We're going to be team mates in therapy for the next few months."

Calling them team mates seemed to settle Spencer and he began participating more confidently in the conversation. He'd taken the train so Tony gave him a ride to the Thai restaurant he'd recommended.

-o0o-

"You do watch movies right?" Tony asked when another obvious reference to a popular movie drew a blank confused look.

"I'm more interested in the classics" Spencer replied.

"Oh! Have you seen the original version of Frankenstein?"

"Yes, you mean the 1931 version with Boris Karloff and Colin Clive?" Spencer said enthusiastically. Did you know that the electrical effects used in the "creation scene used a Tesla Coil built by the inventor Nikola Tesla. And that they were so successful that nearly all the Frankenstein movies since have used that old technology to make the visual effects. Nikola Tesla was an engineer and physicist who invented the AC current that is used in all electrical wiring…"

Tony interrupted mentioning the facts he knew about the movie and they both enjoyed the resulting conversation.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

TIMESKIP SEVERAL WEEKS

Tony was intrigued, the young man never seemed to understand any of his modern movie references though he always expressed interest in Tony's explanations. His knowledge of old foreign classics was extensive though. Tony hadn't seen a lot of them claiming that too much of the depth of the film was lost when you were busy reading subtitles. Spencer agreed with that but then dumbfounded Tony by stating that he generally learned the language so he could appreciate the film properly.

"I barely speak Italian and I'm a DiNozzo" he replied.

"Have you every seriously tried to learn it?" Spencer asked. "Did your parents speak Italian?"

"No my mother was English Aristocracy and my father tried desperately to eliminate any sign of his being of a lower class than she was, including his ancestry. My Nonna, spoke Italian to me sometimes when my parents weren't around to object, but we didn't spend much time with her. Some of the house staff were Italian but they were forbidden to speak it in front of me."

"Do you get along with your Dad?" Spencer asked a little wistfully.

"Not since my mother died when I was nine" Tony replied. "He's more interested in the next business deal than his heir."

"My Dad walked out when I was ten, I haven't heard from him since" Spencer offered. "Mom was sick and she begged him to take me with him but he wouldn't. I was kind of glad though once I got over the shock of it, he wanted me to be normal, to like little league instead of books. I was never good enough."

"I know that feeling. Dad promised if I made the team he'd come to a game, and then it was if I made the varsity team, and then the championships, then a college team. It was always he'll come to the next game, that he got caught up with work, that there was some big deal he had to make that couldn't wait. I spent years trying to be good enough. You were smart to see it at ten and move on. Or lucky! Not that it's lucky that your dad moved out."

"It didn't feel like it at the time" Spencer agreed. "And Mom and I certainly had some hard times, but at least she loved me for who I was, still does though she doesn't like me working for the government."

"So she recovered then. From the illness that made her want you to leave with your father?" Tony asked.

"No, she has Schizophrenia, she's well medicated now but still not capable of living alone. She lives in a Sanatorium in Vegas" Spencer said sadly.

"My mother died of an overdose of alcohol and sleeping tablets, I found out later she was being treated for clinical depression" Tony shared his own problems with a mentally ill mother. "I looked into her death after I became a police officer. Her psychiatrist had recommended hospitalization but dad refused. He thought it would be bad for his business if people knew his wife was mentally ill. I wish someone had cared enough to put her into care."

"She probably wouldn't have needed long term residential care, depression can be cured" Spencer said grasping his forearm supportively.

TIMESKIP – ABOUT A WEEK

"How'd you get to be a SSA already anyway? You're still so young, even with your mind you should still be someone's Probie in an entry level position" Tony said.

"I was recruited by Gideon, specifically to be a profiler. He didn't want to waste time waiting for me to work my way up to being a SSA to qualify for the position. He wouldn't even have sent me to the academy to become an agent if his section chief would've approved for me to travel with the team full time as a consultant. And even then, I didn't actually pass a lot of the physical stuff. Gideon arranged a lot of exemptions for me." Spencer admitted.

"It must be nice to be that valued by someone" Tony said.

"Yeah it was rough at first though. He didn't exactly consult the rest of the team about hiring me before I started. I know the others were pissed off about it for a while" Spencer said cringing at the memories of his first few days at the BAU. "I am still the junior member of the team though they don't use the word Probie. The team are quite protective of me in the field."

"Has that made it hard to make friends?" Tony asked.

"Outside the team it would've been impossible anyway. Those that don't resent me for being able to walk into a position they'd been working towards for years still don't understand why I was promoted to SSA straight out of the academy. I don't fit the image of a successful FBI agent so they think I don't belong. My team are the only ones who accept me. I understand their resentment but there's nothing I can do about it" Spencer replied.

"I should introduce you to Tim. He's my Probie. He's pretty smart but not as smart as you. He helped us out on a couple of cases out at Norfolk and made an impression with Gibbs. There's some people that resent him for being on the MCRT but not so many because not many agents actually want to work with Gibbs" Tony said.

"Hmm," Spencer replied noncommittally. He hated being introduced to people because someone thought they should get along. From what he'd heard Tim and Abby would get along terrifically with Garcia but he wasn't sure he'd actually find enough in common with them that they'd overlook his social awkwardness.

Thankfully, Tony noticed his lack of enthusiasm and backed off. He didn't understand why Spencer lacked confidence. In his experience he was a great guy, a little geeky but his intelligence and interest in everything made it easy for them to find things to talk about. He suspected that Spencer was researching movies so he'd have things to say. It was kind of flattering that he made such an effort to be friends.

Spencer loved that Tony was interested in all the random facts he knew about old movies, especially the remakes of foreign films and subtitled films where Spencer couldn't help but point out where the subtitles didn't quite catch the nuances of the original language.

TIMESKIP ANOTHER WEEK

"What will you do if they don't let you back in the field?" Tony asked after one training session didn't go well, for either of them. Jodie had tried to change up their exercise program and had inadvertently increased the workload a little too much.

"The NSA wants me to work for them full time," Spencer said reluctantly. "Cryptography too if I wanted to stay at the FBI. They've always wanted me but I love the BAU, they're my family and the work I do there is important too. I can see that I'm making a difference. I don't want to leave it."

"At least you've got a job to go to if it comes to that. An important job too, that will still make a difference," Tony said.

"What about you?" Spencer asked.

"It won't be the first time I've had to turn around and start again," Tony said bravely. "I was a cop before I was an agent. It is all I've ever known. My degree is in Physical Education but I doubt that's going to do me any good now. I was headed to playing professional football until I out broke my leg in senior year. Turns out the guy who broke my leg is now my respiratory physician. He saved my life."

"That's a strange coincidence," Spencer said laughing a little. "But what will you do? Will you go back to school?"

"And learn what? I'd probably take a desk job somewhere, I'm not senior enough to be offered one at NCIS though. I'd probably end up as one of those people who work the front desk at a large police station," Tony said despondently.

"You were injured carrying out your job. They should compensate you for that," Spencer replied. "Including paying for your retraining in the career of your choice."

"I don't know where to begin," Tony said blankly, "I was never the sedentary type Spence. There's not a single thing that I'd be fit enough at the moment that I'm interested in doing for the rest of my life."

Spencer laid his hand on Tony's arm in silent support. There was nothing to say.

-o0o-

"Do you like her?" Spencer asked after Tony finished describing Kate. He blushed and stammered "I mean would you like to go out with her, have a relationship?"

Tony grinned. "Even if it wasn't breaking Rule twelve I wouldn't date a woman that straight laced and tightly strung. It's just fun to bait her. We have more of an annoying sibling type relationship," he described.

"Rule twelve?" Spencer asked. He'd heard a couple of Gibb's rules by now but not that one.

"Never date a co-worker," Tony said grinning.

"Did he make that rule for you?" Spencer teased.

"No actually it was one of the first rules he told me but he'd never tell me why," Tony replied.

"My friend Morgan has a similar rule. His rule is never date a woman who carries a gun" Spencer said.

"Yeah, that one makes a lot of sense," Tony replied. "But with all the traveling you guys do half the women you meet would be victims, their families and local LEO's, that puts quite a limit on things."

"Yeah but Morgan doesn't have any trouble meeting women," Spencer replied slightly flat.

Tony noticed and decided the best thing to do was to change the subject, "I think if Kate was going to break Rule twelve she'd be interested in the boss man," he said.

"You mean Gibbs or the Director?" Spencer asked.

"Our Director is a woman, in fact I think she might be the reason for Rule twelve. She and Gibbs were partners in Paris years ago, and there's definitely something between them," Tony confided.

"So your friend Kate's crush on the boss isn't returned?" Spencer said, "That must make it hard for her to work with him."

"It's pretty mild if she has one, or she keeps it hidden better than I thought she's capable of. She knew right from the start he wasn't single. On the case we worked with her before she left the secret service he had some mysterious redhead pick him up in his car," Tony dismissed his partners feelings. "What about your team, any secret romances?"

"Morgan and Garcia have this extreme flirting going on but I think they're just really good friends. He's never made a move on her, and he picks up other women in front of her when we go out as a team," Spencer said.

"So he's not interested in more than friendship but what about her?" Tony asked.

"I don't know, she flirts with everyone even me and I know she doesn't feel that way about me, I think it's just more with Morgan because he plays along," Spencer profiled. "She likes it because he makes her feel attractive."

"Isn't she?" Tony asked.

"Garcia's pretty and unique and her confidence to be herself is attractive but she isn't the type of woman guys hit on. That sounds bad but I didn't mean it to. She's lovely and bubbly and cheers up everyone around her just by her presence. It's just she's not fashionably thin. She comes across as tough and heaven knows with our job she's not innocent and naïve but inside she's pretty vulnerable," Spencer struggled to express himself clearly. He did think Garcia was pretty though he wasn't personally attracted to her.

"What about you, would you like to date any of the people on your team if you didn't work with them?" Tony asked.

"No they're my family. I couldn't see them like that," Spencer replied. "I had a bit of a crush on JJ when we first met but it was just because she was literally the first pretty girl that's ever been nice to me."

"So is there a pretty lady or handsome man elsewhere that you'd like to get to know romantically?" Tony asked.

"No I get too nervous to try to pick up women so it's difficult to get to know anyone to know if I want to ask them out. It's okay though I like being on my own and normally I'm too busy for a relationship," Spencer said blushing.

"Well when we're both well enough to hang around in smoky bars and clubs again I'm going to take you out and help you meet someone," Tony promised.

Spencer sighed. "Morgan tried that. It didn't go well," he admitted.

"That's because your friend Morgan doesn't have the DiNozzo charm," Tony said confidently.

TIMESKIP ANOTHER WEEK

They got to know each other quite well, and developed a supportive relationship encouraging each other to continue their therapy when gains seemed non-existent and celebrating together when they finally came. They ate out together or Spencer came over to Tony's for movies and takeout a couple of times a week while Spencer's team were out of town and Tony's were busy.

Eventually Tony got tired of pussyfooting around the issue of how they both ended up needing pulmonary rehab and one night while the two of them were eating and discussing what movie to watch, well Tony had been debating what movie Spencer should see and Spencer was listening eagerly and injecting his opinion and what stats he knew about each movie. Tony found it refreshing to have a friend that didn't expect him to play the clown to entertain them or to fit into the frat boy persona he'd had in college. Sure, he loved his frat buddies but as time went by it was harder and harder to find any real things in common with them and if he were honest he was starting to feel uncomfortable being the person he became in their presence. With Spencer, he could be himself, mostly because when they first met he didn't have the energy to be anyone but himself and Spencer had accepted that Tony as his friend unconditionally. He had the feeling that the profiler would see through any masks he tried to put up now anyway, and it felt good to know there was one person on this earth that he would never need to pretend for. Tony went quiet, thinking about this for a moment, then decided to tell Spencer his story.

"I had Plague. Y-Pestis," Tony said. "A crazy woman who was pissed off at NCIS for not finding her daughter's rapist years ago, sent it to us in a letter. I was stupid enough to open it and blow it all over the bullpen. I'm grateful that I didn't make anyone else sick."

"How'd it survive the security X-ray?" Spencer asked curiously. He felt slightly guilty, they weren't supposed to share secrets and if he didn't stop Tony now he'd have to choose between sharing a classified beyond top secret event and losing his new friend. "Wait stop! Before you tell me, what's your clearance?"

"What happened to you was more classified than the knowledge of how to send biological weapons via post?" Tony asked incredulously.

"Um yeah, maybe! Fort Detrick kind of classified," Spencer stammered. "Even my boss at the NSA wasn't cleared for this."

Tony told Spencer his classification. "It's okay if you want to check it before you tell me" he said comfortingly. "But my team handle terror threats all the time."

"Terror threats against military targets Tony," Spencer replied. "This was tested against civilians and even though the main target was military personnel they were willing to kill thousands of civilians to get to them, it had the potential to be the next 9/11 if the team hadn't stopped it in time."

Tony gulped. Yeah, he'd come to terms with the fact that the kid outranked him and that his security clearance was higher than his, not to mention being several times as smart as he was. But the thought that this kid who looked barely old enough to be a postgraduate student could have been on the front line in an event like that truly shook him. He went back to telling him about his own event so he wouldn't have to think about it.

"The bitch sent the virus in a high-quality envelope with an antique lipstick SWAK on both sides," Tony replied.

"What's a swak?" Spencer asked.

"A lipstick kiss mark, it's an acronym for 'Sealed With A Kiss'," Tony replied smirking. Sometimes what this kid knew and didn't know baffled him.

"Antique lipstick, you mean old enough to contain lead?" Spencer said looking at him for confirmation. "The kiss marks protected the virus from the X-ray?"

"Yeah one on the inside of the front of the envelope and one outside on the back in the same place and a moisture strip full of plague in the middle," Tony nodded amazed at how quickly Spencer was able to make the connection. "It was my fault I got infected. I was stupid. When I saw the kiss I arrogantly took the envelope from my Probie. I pretty much told him he wasn't cool enough to get letters with a kiss. I was teasing but I could see he was hurt by the insult. Then it turned out to be pneumonic plague and I was the only one affected though my partner was less than happy to have her favourite work outfit burnt. And to have to shower in the men's bathroom with just a curtain protecting her privacy. Kate's kind of a prude."

"At least she got a shower and a bathroom. I got scrubbed down in a decontamination tent by two strangers then transported to hospital naked. I'm just grateful that they set up the tent with the transparent wall facing the empty house and not the street," Spencer complained.

Tony couldn't help but laugh. The thought of the extremely self-conscious, touch phobic Spencer being stripped and scrubbed down in public was too much.

"Did they at least give you a blanket to cover up?" He asked.

"Yeah once I was in the stretcher," Spencer agreed. "I passed out in the ambulance and woke up in a hospital gown twenty-four hours later."

"They at least gave me swish new royal blue jammies, though I didn't get to keep them, they burnt them afterwards. I spent the night in this isolation tent inside the hospital with these blue lights to try to kill the bugs. It must have worked because Kate was with me and it turned out all she had was a cold. We were in isolation for hours before I began to get sick. Kate pretended to be infected too so I wouldn't have to stay in isolation alone. The plague had been modified to be antibiotic resistant and to have a suicide gene added. After twenty-four hours the virus killed itself but the damage was done," Tony said seriously.

"That's an incredible risk for her to take," Spencer said awed by the level of friendship Tony's teammate showed him.

"Yeah," Tony agreed. He was slightly embarrassed by the way he'd treated Kate while they were in isolation when he realised that she'd stayed for his sake. "Did your team stay with you?"

"Morgan offered but I told him to leave, the case was too important. Besides I didn't want him watching me be stripped and scrubbed down. It was embarrassing enough without having someone I was going to have to work with afterwards watching. By the time I got to the hospital I was too sick to know who was there or not," Spencer said blushing at the memory.

"How did you survive that?" Tony asked, ignoring his friend's blush.

"The professor that had weaponised the anthrax to kill had an antidote hidden in his office. After I was exposed I locked myself in there until I found it," Spencer replied. "Unfortunately, it was too late for a lot if the victims."

"There was a weaponised anthrax outbreak with casualties on American soil and they managed to cover it up?" Tony asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Spencer said nervously. "They released it in a public park here in Annapolis. Twenty-one people died before I found the antidote, twelve of them before we even knew it was anthrax. That was the second attack, the first attack was inside a bookstore, luckily it occurred right on closing time but the three people infected received a large enough dose that they died too quickly to even be identified as anthrax, they didn't even develop the welts. If it became known about the attack, then people would be afraid to leave their houses."

"So that's the classified part, not how it was dispersed or anything technical?" Tony asked.

"Twenty-four people died in what was pretty much a couple of test runs," Spencer said dryly. "Even though I found the antidote within six hours of the military and the FBI being called in and within twenty-four hours of the initial exposure it was too late for most of them. The anthrax had been modified to be antibiotic resistant and to kill too quickly. Even knowing what the antidote was they couldn't have made enough of it to save the civilians or even most of the military personnel who would have been infected if my team hadn't caught the guy in time to prevent the next attack."

"How close was it?" Tony croaked.

"Morgan said less than a minute or two. The unsub was already on the platform with the anthrax. He'd packed it into light bulbs all he had to do was drop the bag," Spencer replied. "With the wind through the tunnels he could have taken out half the platforms on the red line by the time word got out to evacuate the stations and the trains aren't that sort of airtight, all people already on trains would have been dead before we could do anything, not to mention the chaos caused by having all the trains on the line running without drivers in peak hour."

"It was here in DC?" Tony gasped in horror.

"Yes, though the test case was in Annapolis," Spencer didn't elaborate.

"Why the red line? From what I've read, isn't the yellow line more vulnerable to that sort of attack," Tony asked.

"You read that report," Spencer said happily. "The others all laughed at me for having read it."

"Yeah because you've probably read the same reports on every city in the United States," Tony teased. "I live in this city."

You're right, luckily the red line was chosen for personal reasons which was what allowed the team to predict where he would attack. The unsub was rejected from his dream job by Fort Detrick and the closest he could get to attacking them was to attack their staff who used the train," Spencer replied. "Otherwise he could have used any platform along the loop and we might not have found him in time."

"And because you were already looking for him he would have got some of the FBI's finest as well," Tony said.

"As well as a lot of the top biological weapons experts in the country. First responders as well if we didn't manage to get the word out not to enter the underground to prevent his escape," Spencer agreed. "Worst case scenario easily 10,000 deaths, and our economy would grind to a halt because people would be afraid to travel into the cities to work for fear of another attack. At least we were able to prove the pilots involved in 9/11 died in the attack, this man wouldn't have if he'd taken the antidote, and even if we caught him there are many people that would never believe it, or believed he was working alone and the threat was over."

"And yet you're still planning to continue to ride the train to work when you're reinstated?" Tony replied. "You have the biggest balls of anyone I've ever met."

Spencer blushed.

"Do you do many anti-terrorism cases? I thought you guys chased serial killers," Tony asked.

"We do mostly, but we do some anti-terrorism cases where the targets are civilians. It depends what else is going on in the world. Several members of our team wrote the manual on negotiating with various forms of hostage takers so we sometimes get called in to those situations as well. We went to Gitmo several months ago to profile the leader of an El Qaeda cell who had a Anthrax bomb to work out where they were going to strike, luckily we got that one in time so there were no casualties," Spencer said, as if unaware he was totally shaking Tony's belief in the safety of everyone he knew.

"What was the target?" Tony asked faintly, now he was hearing that there had been not only one, but two attempted anthrax attacks on US soil in the past eighteen months.

"The grand opening of the huge new shopping monstrosity in McLean," Spencer replied.

"McLean Virginia?" Tony repeated. "And I thought doomsday preppers were the ones touched in the head."

Spencer chuckled mirthlessly, he'd had more time to get used to things like that but it still shook him that there were people out there willing to take thousands of innocent lives. He decided to return to the previous topic before Tony could ask him about more attacks. "Our jobs aren't so different sometimes, but yes we mostly get invited in on cases that involve serial offenders, murderers, rapists and arsonists."

"We do a bit of everything too so long as the victim or suspect is part of the navy or marine corps or a naval or marine dependent. As the major case response team, we mostly do murders, kidnappings, missing officers with high level security clearances or major threats. It's the best sort of team to work on. I'd go mad if we had to deal with terrorists or espionage cases full time," Tony said.

"I think we'd all become hypervigilant and paranoid if we did that all the time without a break," Spencer agreed. "Maybe that's why the CIA operatives are all a bit off."

Tony laughed and agreed.

A/N: Thank you to Rori Potter, shoppingnull, julschristine975, DS2010, Village-Mystic, xoshortnsassy09, Addictedtoreading452, blackgirl663, drdeth2000, DaemonWolfe, ShinyaDiey, Ashlin3, lizg12, Badenwill, Monchele1357, Lady Akina, ShadowSkill29, ahowell1993, Age0102, WickedMagic, addictedtoromanceandfanfiction and janiram for your support.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

The day Tony was cleared to go back on light duty was bittersweet for Spencer. He was glad for his friend but his own clearance seemed a long way away as he watched Tony hugging Jodie at the end of their last combined therapy session. Tony was supposed to return to limited hours of light duty so that he could still attend his daily physio for another week while they monitored the effect of returning to the Navy Yard on his lungs, but he'd talked them into letting him attempt to return full time, promising that he'd cut back and contact them if he had any difficulties.

Spencer was going to miss his new friend and wondered whether the older agent would want to keep in touch or if he would rather forget everything about his battle with the plague and the fight to get his lungs functioning again.

Spencer knew Tony well by this time, and while he tried not to profile his friends, after four years working on the BAU, the perceptions were almost automatic. Tony tried to avoid anything that caused negative emotions in his private life and Spencer knew that if at the end of his treatment he wasn't cleared to return to working in the field Tony's guilt that he'd been so much luckier than his friend would make him avoid even thinking of Spencer let alone talking to him and their friendship would be almost impossible to continue.

-o0o-

"Hey Tony how did your first day back at work go?" Spencer asked when he rang him that evening. "Did they put you on light duties?"

Tony laughed. "I wish! I ended up having to run away from a bomb in a car boot. Some idiot killed a couple of sailors to target us"

"Are you okay?" Spencer asked shocked and worried.

"I wasn't really hurt in the blast though I was knocked down and had the wind knocked out of me, but my chest hurt from running up the hill," Tony said worriedly.

"Did you talk to your doctor about it? Or Jodie?" Spencer asked.

"No, mother hen, I don't need you clucking over me. Ducky checked me out and cleared me. I'm supposed to be on light duties and they'll put me back on medical leave if they find out Gibbs is ignoring their recommendations" Tony said.

"And I suppose a Ducky outranks a mother hen who cares about you," Spencer said sarcastically.

"Don't be like that, Spence. I'm fine," Tony said almost apologetically.

"You were supposed to be on medical leave for another week anyway," Spencer said disapprovingly. "Did it have to be you running from the bomb. Was the trigger that sensitive that you couldn't get someone to take over or wait for the bomb squad to arrive and disarm it?"

"Um no," Tony said dismissively.

"You actually took it over to save one of your team," Spencer realised shaking his head in disbelief . "Tony, how could you?"

"I can run faster than they can," Tony said.

"Your lungs are compromised. You shouldn't be running at all," Spencer retorted.

"They wouldn't have made it Spence. Tim's just a probie, it's my job to look out for him in the field, and Kate risked her life staying with me when I was infected," Tony said bluntly.

Spencer closed his eyes in horror at how close he had come to losing his friend. "I hope they appreciated what you did for them. I understand and I probably would have done the same in your shoes," he replied sympathetically. "Not that it would have worked if it was me I'm the worst runner on the team. Derek would have made me stand still while he disarmed it."

"We'll have to work on that when you're well enough to run," Tony replied pleased with the support.

"Are you home?" Spencer asked, wondering if Tony would accept his offer to come over and keep him company and make sure he was alright.

"No, I'm lying on the floor of the forensics lab. Abby has a futon for when she's here all night waiting for her machines to finish running their tests. Someone tried to kill us so nobody goes home until we catch the guy," Tony replied.

"You shouldn't be in the lab near the chemical vapours!" Spencer protested. "It isn't safe for your lungs. Did you breathe in much of the explosive smoke and debris? You should have gone back to Bethesda to see your specialist."

"Calm down Spence, I'm fine. Can you hear me wheezing?" Tony reassured his friend. "I'm in Abby's office, there's an airtight door between me and her lab chemicals."

"Do you know who was behind the bombing?" Spencer asked concerned. "Are you sure you were the targets? Do you mean they targeted NCIS or your team specifically? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No not yet, the serial numbers were removed from the detonators and the C4 didn't have identifying markers" Tony said.

"Sounds like a professional assassin, maybe CIA or a foreign organization be it government or one of the major terrorist groups? No offence Tony, but what would they want to target your team directly for?" Spencer replied. "Call me if I can help with anything."

"I will Spence, you keep yourself safe. How was therapy today?" Tony asked.

Spencer sighed, "Boring without you to joke with, and much harder in my own. Jodie seems out of sorts today too, maybe she was missing you but I think it has something to do with the fact her husband's due home from sea in a couple of days."

"I thought she'd be happy about that," Tony said eager to gossip about anything but the case. "Are we profiling trouble in paradise?"

"Yeah, I think so. She hasn't given me any details but she seems more anxious than anticipatory about his return," Spencer said thoughtfully. "Of course, he's been gone nearly a year and she's put on a fair bit of weight, so maybe she's just feeling insecure."

"How do you know she's put on weight? Did she tell you?" Tony asked.

"She didn't say anything but all her clothes are either brand new or a size too small and her wedding ring looks too small for her fingers. Assuming it fit perfectly when she got married, she would have had to put on about 50lb for her ring to not fit now, unless she injured that hand somehow and I've seen no signs of swelling or deformity," Spencer replied.

"I bow to your superior observation skills" Tony said laughing.

-o0o-

"We found out who did the bombing," Tony called Spencer to tell him an hour later. "Fornell from the FBI came to warn us that Ari Haswari is back in the country. Apparently Gibbs is his main target."

"You know him?" Spencer asked. He'd heard the name through his work but had been kept away from the man himself which was slightly unusual, he'd often been asked to profile agents like this to establish whether they were trustworthy.

"Yeah we know the guy. Problem is without proof he's protected by Homeland and the FBI they think he's a double agent supposedly working for Mossad helping them break into a Hamas cell, planning an attack on Washington," Tony said bitterly. "We've been ordered to stay away from him."

"And you don't think so?" Spencer said. "Why not?"

"Last time he was in the country he broke in to autopsy to steal a body and shot our ME's assistant in the shoulder. He wasn't being watched and he didn't have to do it. He could have explained to us that he was a double agent and gotten us to confirm with Mossad," Tony explained.

"He wanted to shoot him," Spencer concluded. "Is he a sadist or did he get off on manipulating you all?"

"Dammed if I know, Spence," Tony replied. "He definitely gets off on manipulating us but that doesn't rule out being a sadist as well, does it? He shot Gerald right in the shoulder joint. Not life threatening but very painful and debilitating long term. If he had to shoot him he could have chosen a less painful place. Doc says Gerald's going to be out on medical leave for a whole year at least."

"Unfortunately, it sounds like he's definitely a sadist, but that doesn't automatically make him a terrorist or a traitor to Mossad. Send me what information you can and I'll ask Hotch to pass on the profile on the guy. It should show whether or not he can be trusted," Spencer offered. "Let me know who in the FBI is involved in protecting him. Hotch and Rossi between them have quite a bit of influence so they may be able to get their profile taken seriously." Spencer didn't mention that he too had a lot of influence with the bureau."

"I wouldn't want to get you and your bosses into trouble Spencer," Tony said concerned. "These agents aren't going to like being told they're wrong."

"No, of course they're not, but better they're told now by us in private before their traitor instigates a major terrorist attack and they're trying to do clean up in front of a national television audience and a senate enquiry," Spencer argued.

"Okay I'll send you what we've got as soon as I wake up. If I go back up to the bullpen now Gibbs will put me back to work," Tony said tiredly.

Spencer could hear the exhaustion in his voice and started to worry "Okay, get some sleep and call me later," he said wondering whether Tony would forgive him if he called his teammates and asked them to keep a closer eye on his breathing.

-o0o-

The next evening Tony sounded like he was gasping for breath when Spencer called him to tell him that the FBI bigwigs had agreed with Hotch's profile and were going to assist in apprehending the terrorist mole.

Panicked Spencer raced out the door and hurried as fast as his own damaged lungs would let him down the stairs to the garage and headed to Tony's place, begging him on the phone to let him call an ambulance.

"No Spence it isn't my lungs. Kate was killed today by a sniper, she was standing right next to me. The bastard, Ari, tried to fly a drone into the pier full of family members waiting for the marine amphibious strike group. Tim was trying to jam the control frequency and fly it into the water when his transmitter was shot. Gibbs managed to crash the drone and save the civilians. We thought the threat was over and we were starting to joke around to destress and the next minute Kates brain matter was all down the front of my vest and she was gone. Sniper bullet to the centre of her forehead," he rambled trying to explain.

Spencer realised that Tony was sobbing not gasping for breath and slowed down to just above the speed limit.

"Are you alone?" Spencer asked worriedly.

"Yeah. I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, but now I'm here I see her lying dead in front of me every time I close my eyes," Tony replied brokenly.

"I'll be there soon. You don't have to talk to me or listen to me or anything I just want to make sure you're okay," Spencer said. He knew that while Tony and Kate may never have been romantically involved the older man did love his team mate as much as Spencer loved his own team. The idea of the team not being together to grieve one of their own felt wrong.

Spencer flashed his badge to get into the building, thanking whatever gods existed for the working elevator, and picked the lock to get into Tony's apartment not willing to be turned away by his friend until he'd seen for himself that the older agent was truly okay.

He entered the room to see Tony slumped over on the sofa his hands over his face. Even from across the room he could hear the wheeze of Tony's breathing above his own laboured breaths. He hurried over and moved Tony to a position his lungs didn't have to work so hard. Tony turned and wrapped his arms around Spencer gripping him hard. For a moment, Spencer panicked at the embrace but forced himself to relax, he could still breathe and Tony wasn't hurting him in any way. He hesitantly rubbed his hand up and down Tony's back. "Breathe Tony. Slow deep breaths," he encouraged.

Slowly Tony's breathing evened out and he calmed down. "Thanks Spence," he said as if just noticing his presence. He let the younger man go and sat back.

"You're welcome," Spencer said shyly. "I hope you don't mind me breaking into your apartment."

Tony chuckled slightly. "Anytime I need saving."

Spencer stayed quiet knowing that sometimes there were no words of comfort available and it was better not to ramble nervously no matter how much it would make him feel better. Eventually Tony began rambling himself telling him about the case, how they'd saved the lives of hundreds of military families waiting for their loved ones to arrive.

Spencer didn't tell Tony he was repeating himself when he told him the story of their mission that day again, realising that talking it out would do him good.

"How did Gibbs manage to crash the drone? I thought you said he was a total luddite?" Spencer asked.

Tony laughed, slightly bitterly. "The Luddite way of course, he shot the controls until they stopped transmitting and the drone dove into the sea. Tim was horrified that he hadn't thought of it."

"Effective but hard on the evidence if you need to prove what the controller was capable of controlling in court" Spencer commented.

"The controller was already dead and Ari is never going to be prosecuted. He knows too many secrets, it would embarrass our government and neither Mossad or Hamas will take the risk of him negotiating a deal," Tony said. "Gibbs is going to kill him."

"Is that why you're home alone tonight, so you won't be involved in the murder?" Spencer asked worried. It wasn't like Tony to let his boss go off alone in such a dangerous situation even if he knew the team leader was about to break the law. Spencer was afraid that Tony and his boss were going to put themselves in danger looking for this unsub without sufficient backup.

Tony sighed. "No, I want to be there when he's taken down. Gibbs will need me on his six. We've got to find the bastard before we can take him down. Of course, the FBI and Homeland are looking for him now too, but I bet Gibbs can find him first."

"How? His contacts are that good?" Spencer asked surprised.

"Well, Gibbs will have Abby and Tim find him first," Tony backtracked without pause.

Spencer didn't want to argue with him but silently resolved to get Garcia to try to track down this man before Tony's team could. "Tell me more about Kate" he asked instead."

Instead of talking about her directly, Tony told Spencer about all the pranks he'd played on her, laughing as he related how upset she got with them. Spencer sat listening, his heart starting ache more and more with each story. He thought he'd found a true friend and be began to be afraid that Tony was the type of person who bullied his friends. Spencer began to worry that Tony would turn on him one day too. Pranks he could deal with but this sounded like more than that.

"Does she prank you back?" he asked in a small voice.

"Well yeah Spence! It wouldn't be half so much fun if she didn't retaliate," Tony declared.

"Tell me about some of the pranks she pulled on you?" Spencer asked hopefully. Maybe his friend wasn't such a bully.

Tony enthusiastically launched into stories of pranks that Kate and McGee had played on him over the past two years, cheerfully laughing at himself for falling for them, and Spencer began to feel better as he realised that a lot of what he saw as bullying hadn't been intentional, and certainly wasn't malicious or one sided.

Spencer rang for takeout lasagne, Tony's favourite comfort food, and managed to get him to eat a decent amount before letting him have another glass of scotch. He let him talk until he fell asleep then covered him with the quilt from his bedroom before going to make himself at home on the recliner, not wanting to leave his friend alone in case he had nightmares.

-o0o-

Kate's death strengthened the friendship between the two very different agents as Tony leaned on Spencer for the support he wasn't getting from his own team.

Gibbs was obsessed with finding Ari and while Tony was eager to help most of the work needed to be done by Tim and Abby who had the necessary technical expertise for these types of searches. Tim was reeling from Kate's death himself, she was the first colleague he'd lost in the line of duty and Gibbs was incapable of providing the support he needed leaving the burden on Tony. Abby was also too emotional to offer any real support and as always, her first efforts were directed at her silver fox. Tony was trying to support Tim in typical Tony fashion, playing the clown in attempt to cheer him up and pranking him to distract him from his sorrow.

Spencer was recovering too, finally he was able to walk from his apartment to Union station at a reasonable pace and catch the train to Annapolis for his therapy appointments instead of having to drive. He also started to spend time walking in the park, just enjoying the fact that he had the energy to do more than the most essential tasks each day. He celebrated by dragging Tony around the Smithsonian science museum. Tony was too pleased that his friend was finally recovering enough to spend the whole day walking while talking excitedly non-stop to even think of objecting to the geekish pursuit.

-o0o-

"How was your first day back?" Tony asked Spencer a couple of weeks later.

Spencer smiled. "It was good, far better than yours. The team arrived back from Wichita late yesterday so they were all in the office typing up reports and doing consults. I spent the day doing consults and reading through the cases they had when I was out. I still haven't been cleared to fly so it's going to suck if they get a case before I am, I hate being left behind. There's only so much I can do to help if I'm not there."

"Yeah and it's not like you can run the computer searches," Tony teased.

"Garcia would kill me if I tried to do her job," Spencer protested.

"I don't know how you managed to get an engineering degree without using a computer, let alone a PhD. You couldn't have done," Tony said laughing.

"You know you're the first person to realise that out loud," Spencer replied.

"Realise out loud?" Tony asked confused.

"Well Gideon and Hotch have never mentioned it but I think they know that I must have used a computer at least to write up my thesis even if I can do in my head most of the math that people use a computer for, and I collaborate on a lot of research articles so I must have a way of receiving and sending information that's more efficient than editing paper copies and expecting others to type up my work. They're the ones behind ensuring that Garcia continues to print paper copies of the case file s for me no matter how much she complains about it," Spencer said. "They've never teased me about being inept with a computer either like the others do."

"So, you actually can use a computer pretty well, why the insistence on paper files?" Tony asked.

"I read 20,000 words a minute in paper. The fasted computer or tablet has a maximum legible scroll rate of about 2,000 words a minute. It's just too frustrating to read files like that," Spencer replied.

Tony laughed, "Yeah I can see that. It would bring you back to just three or four times better than the rest of us," he said sarcastically.

"My brain also makes better connections between things when I read them on paper," Spencer said defensively.

"You and Gibbs would get along famously, between the coffee habit and the antitechnology," Tony declared.

"Um… I don't think so. I don't like being yelled at and I respond badly to unexpected physical contact. He'd probably head slap me right into an anxiety attack, or I would jump and knock his coffee all over both of us," Spencer said nervous at just the thought of working for Tony's ex-marine boss.

-o0o-

It was just over a week later that Spencer had to call Tony and cancel their movie night on his way out of town.

"Hey it's Spencer. I've caught a case, we're on the way to Mississippi," Spencer said, not apologising for having to cancel as he knew Tony would only tell him not to.

"You got cleared to travel, Attaboy!" Tony exclaimed cheerfully making Spencer laugh.

"Yeah, Jodie officially discharged me yesterday," Spencer replied proudly. "I've got to get to the plane."

"Luck with the case, we'll reschedule when you get back."

"Sure, I'll call when I get home," Spencer agreed.

"After you catch up on your sleep. You don't want to risk getting sick again," Tony said.

"Says the man who deliberately nearly got himself blown up on his first case back," Spencer said sarcastically.

"Yeah well you can't run fast enough to try that," Tony retorted.

"I didn't intend to try. Look after yourself" Spencer said hanging up.

A/N: Thank you to Village-Mystic, blackgirl663, kittenlore, Rori Potter, Guest, DS2010, Lady Rosencrantz, julschristine975, Amethyst-Pheonix2003, Meghie03, lisatp66, shelli3, Dedelle, A Chilly Panda, kbbella, Unspeakable Jack, Odette12, aiimee, penquin, lulu-20-07, Julzeron and Megan1339 for your support.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

TIME SKIP ONE MONTH

Spencer was lying in his hospital bed trying to find out how Hotch was. None of the team were answering his texts and when he rang the hospital they denied having a patient by the name Aaron Hotchner. If only he hadn't been on the opposite side of the city when he got shot, he might have been able to convince the paramedics to take him to the same hospital. Then his team would have visited him and he would have been able to get some answers. He was trying not to feel sorry for himself when Tony stuck his head in. "Up for visitors?" He asked.

"Tony? How'd you know I was here?" Spencer asked.

"Jodie told me you were shot in the line of duty. The shooting made the news though you weren't mentioned by name, so it wasn't hard to figure which hospital you'd be in. I am a great investigator, you know?" Tony said jovially.

Spencer went pale.

"What's wrong? Do you need the nurse?" Tony asked already reaching for the call bell.

"Foyet, he's after our team, he's already got Morgan and Hotch and if you could find me he could too," Spencer said panicked.

Tony could see that Spencer was truly afraid and he knew the younger agent well enough now to know it took an awful lot to shake him. If Spencer was this worried then the threat was very real.

Tony pulled out his phone and called in a marine guard for his friend claiming he was a witness in danger of retaliation. He then used his smartphone to do an image search on George Foyet showing Spencer the pictures. Spencer ID'd the right one and he checked though to see if he could find a clearer picture.

"I've told them you are a witness that needs to be protected whatever the cost. I'll get Gibbs to clear it with the director, mind you they'll probably bill the FBI for their expenses." Tony grinned.

"Thank you, Tony," Spencer said with an enormous look of relief.

"You think he'll find you and kill you? Is this guy really that dangerous?" Tony asked.

"He'll find me, he was smart enough to escape from a federal penitentiary. As for killing me, that would depend on what he thought would cause my team the most pain, killing me or attacking me and leaving me alive," Spencer stated with certainty.

"He's that good? That dangerous?" Tony questioned. He knew Spencer's team tracked down serial killers but he still had a hard time reconciling the young man in front of him as a target for some of the most dangerous men in the world.

"Foyet is the Reaper," Spencer replied quietly.

"The Boston Reaper?" Tony asked suddenly very glad he was armed. He pulled out his gun and took up a guard position where he couldn't immediately be seen from the door. "I won't let him hurt you. Will you recognise him by sight? If he comes in dressed as a nurse or an orderly or something?"

"Yes," Spencer said relaxing back now he knew he wasn't in danger. "I should ring the rest of the team and make sure they're taking precautions too, especially JJ and Henry. He's never gone after a child before but taking Henry would cause the most havoc if Jack and Haley are protected and he can't get to him. And I'm sure that would have been the first thing Hotch asked for when he regained consciousness."

He tried to ring them all including Will LaMontagne, leaving messages when he couldn't get through.

"None of them answered?" Tony asked concerned. He'd been surprised to find Spencer alone. When he was injured in the field Gibbs, Tim, Ducky and Abby tended to hang around the hospital as much as they could while still solving the case and getting the person who'd injured their team mate. Spencer said the case had been solved and the perp locked up but still none of his team were there. And now they weren't even answering Spencer's calls. It was unfathomable to Tony that their absence could be the result of anything but the most serious terrorist threat or attack.

Spencer must be going out of his mind with worry.

"Did you do something to upset them all?" Tony asked teasingly, pretending it could be a personal reason his team wasn't here. He was trying to make Spencer stop worrying but it backfired badly.

"Not that I know of," Spencer said sadly. "They're worried about Hotch, I get that."

"If they're up in ICU visiting Hotch then they'll have their phones turned off," Tony said gently.

"Yeah but if he's in the ICU then only two of them could be in his room at a time," Spencer said dejectedly. "You'd think that one of the others would be willing to leave the hospital for long enough to let me know what's going on and ask about my injuries, or to set up protection for me if none of them want to leave Hotch.

When the marines got there, Tony relaxed and showed them the photo and stated that the man was not to be allowed access to Doctor Reid under any circumstances, that he was armed and extremely dangerous man who had killed over thirty people and that if he tried to attack them they should take him out with extreme prejudice first and then call him to deal with the fallout.

"I'd better go Reid. I need to go and justify the marine guard with my boss and the director," Tony said. "You'll be safe with them here. I'll be back as soon as I can. Is there anything you'd like me to bring you?"

"Won't you get in trouble using marines when it isn't a NCIS case?" Spencer asked anxiously. He was incredibly grateful for the marines outside his door but he didn't want his friend to get into trouble for it."

"The Director won't like it but he'll probably bill the FBI for the expense," Tony replied. "Don't you worry about it. I'm the senior field agent on his top team, I have the authority to do this and you can't say it isn't necessary." Tony said pretending a confidence he didn't feel. Normally this wouldn't have fooled Spencer but the pain, the meds and the relief he'd felt being protected had him far enough off his game that he believed his friend and relaxed.

-o0o-

Spencer stirred anxiously reaching for the weapon Tony had left him when Tony entered the room later that night, relaxing when he realised who it was. Tony was angry to see that the young agent was still alone and looking around the room there was no sign that any of his team had been to visit in the interval Tony was away organising his protection and getting it authorised. It had taken him over an hour and he was sure Spencer's team would have shown up by now.

He handed over the cup of coffee he'd brought for his coffee addicted friend, laughing as Spencer moaned in pleasure at the taste of the sugary liquid.

"Was your director very angry?" Spencer asked.

"Not at all but she's already been on the phone with your director insisting that the FBI reimburse the expenses of the marine guards," Tony replied. "In fact, I think she was enjoying herself sticking it to the FBI that they were so negligent with their agents that they needed NCIS help to recognise a genuine threat and take action. She also sent a marine detail to JJ's house to provide protection for Henry and Will, though she did agree to let the FBI take over that protection detail once they got their heads out of their asses and got a team in place. She would have sent one to Hotch's wife and son too but they've already been collected by the FBI and the Marshalls were called to St Bartholomew's so it looks like they're going into witness protection."

Spencer was almost in tears. "Thank you," he sniffed. "You don't know how much it means to me."

"Spence, I know how much you love that little boy," Tony said squeezing his shoulder. "And you were right that attacking him fits Foyet's profile."

"Yes," Spencer agreed.

"Are you hungry?" Tony asked.

"Not really I'm still a little nauseas from the pain meds," Spencer replied.

"At least they don't send you loopy. I'm not responsible for anything I say when I've been doped up by the docs," Tony said ruefully. He frowned noticing that Spencer still looked quite uncomfortable for someone hooked up on the good drugs.

"I'd tell you to insist on the non-narcotic pain meds like I do, but it will make your Doctors think you're an addict," Spencer replied blushing.

"Spencer?" Tony exclaimed in shock.

"It's a long story. I was held captive by an unsub with DID and one of the personalities tried to help me escape the torture of one of the others by injecting me with Dilaudid. By the time I got free three days later I was addicted. It took a while for me to get clean, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done and I'm afraid that any form of pain meds will bring back the cravings," Spencer told his story looking firmly at the sheet covering him, not wanting to see disgust or condemnation in his friend's eyes. He waited for Tony to get up and leave.

Spencer startled when Tony laid his hand supportively on his shoulder for a minute before dragging his chair closer to Spencer. "It takes a lot of strength to survive being tortured. And you did get yourself clean. Spence, you ought to be proud of that, not ashamed. Don't let the unsub win like that Spence, don't let him ruin your self-esteem. He doesn't deserve to hurt you anymore. And the personality that injected you was trying to help, he wouldn't want you to still be hurting because of him."

His team had all tried to tell him that his addiction hadn't been his fault and that they were just glad that he'd gotten himself clean. But none of them had said it the way Tony had that beating himself up over his addiction was letting not Tobias but Charles Hankel and Raphael win. Spencer nodded.

Tony started chattering, telling him about his day at work, repeating the stories the current case had reminded Ducky of and anything else he could think of speaking in a slow calming tone until Spencer fell asleep. Unfortunately, he didn't sleep for long before the nurse came in to wake him up with her blood pressure cuff and the thermometer in his ear and Tony had to talk him to sleep all over again.

-o0o-

Will frowned and resumed pacing around the living room as JJ's phone went straight to voicemail again. He'd already left messages on her cell phone and her work phone asking her to call him urgently. He'd been freaked out when the Marine platoon had arrived and searched the surrounding area before leaving to guards on the front and back door of their house. They'd explained that they were there to protect him and Henry as one of the killers the BAU had been chasing had made several threats against the team and Agents Morgan and Hotchner had already been attacked. Now JJ had been out of contact for hours and he was going out of his mind with worry.

In desperation, he called Spencer.

"Reid," Spencer answered sleepily.

"Spence, what the hell? I can't reach JJ, she's not returning my calls and you're asleep? What's going on?" Will asked frantically. "Then these Marines turned up to protect us saying that we might be in serious danger."

"I'm afraid the Marines are my fault Will. I tried to call your house number," Spencer said apologetically.

"Where's JJ?" Will yelled.

"I don't know Will. I got shot during a case today and I haven't seen her since about ten o'clock this morning, she was working a different part of the case. We got the unsub so that case is over now barring the paperwork. But Hotch was attacked in his home last night by the Reaper, I don't know how much JJ has told you about him. A friend of mine found me after seeing the shooting on the news and once we realised how easy it would be for the Reaper to find me he arranged protection. Jack and Haley are going into witness protection, that left you and Henry as the most vulnerable and my friend decided to protect the two of you too."

"So what's JJ doing? Her phone's going straight to voicemail," Will asked anxiously.

"I don't know Will, she's not returning my calls either. None of the team are," Spencer replied becoming increasingly worried about his team. He had been trying hard not to think that they had just abandoned him in the hospital but now he was hoping that that was all it was.

"What do you think it could be?" Will asked.

"If Hotch is in intensive care they couldn't have their phones turned on while they're there. Even if he's awake and out of surgery, Haley and Jack are lost to him until the Reaper's been caught. He's going to need their support. Unfortunately, he's not in the same hospital as I am," Spencer said his voice wavering, giving lie to the positive message he was trying to convey.

"Please call me as soon as you hear from them?" Will asked, becoming less angry with his son's godfather as he realised that Spencer had to be seriously injured to be stuck in hospital with all this going on.

"Okay, can you call me when you hear from her too, or just text me and let me know she's okay?" Spencer asked.

"Sure Spence, you get some rest and feel better soon," Will replied. "Thanks for making sure Henry was protected."

"You're welcome Will. He's my godson too," Spencer replied smiling.

"He's asleep or I'd put him on for you to talk to," Will said.

"Give him my love," Spencer said.

"Will do Spence. Talk to you soon hopefully."

-o0o-

Spencer's phone finally rang and Spencer smiled to see JJ's name on the caller ID.

"Hi JJ," he answered cheerfully.

"What the hell, Spence? You sent marines to my house?" JJ yelled. She was exhausted and worried about both her injured friends and she'd arrived home, only to argue with Will, who had been frantically worrying about her all afternoon. She didn't mean to sound so accusing with Spencer but she was angry that he'd frightened her son and lover without telling her.

"Hotch is under protection at the hospital and Haley and Jack have gone into witness protection. I was worried that the Reaper would go after you and Henry," Spencer replied as if it was obvious.

"He's going after Hotch's family not mine!" JJ snapped.

"We don't know that, so far he's attacked Hotch and Morgan. Even if you were right, Hotch's family are all protected and out of his reach now. After Haley and Jack, who does Hotch care about the most?" Spencer argued.

"I don't know," JJ admitted. "I don't know his friends."

"The team!" Spencer declared unimpressed. "And the one thing that would hurt him more than any of us being hurt just now would be you losing Henry just as he's lost Jack into witness protection."

"Why freaking marines?" JJ asked. "Couldn't you have organised a protection detail that didn't stand out like a sore thumb?"

"I couldn't do anything myself from here. The friend who organised the protection details for me is not FBI he doesn't have access to enough agents to throw together two protection details. So, he used what he did have," Spencer replied trying to speak calmly. "You're welcome by the way."

JJ was silent for a moment.

"How is Hotch?" Spencer asked.

"Well if you'd gone to visit him you'd know," JJ snapped before hanging up on him.

-o0o-

Spencer closed his eyes tightly trying not to cry.

"Did she even ask how you are?" Tony asked, affronted on his friend's behalf.

"No and she berated me for not having been at the hospital visiting Hotch. I don't think she even remembers I was shot," Spencer said incredulously.

"Who did know you were shot?" Tony asked.

"I was on the phone to Emily when I was shot and she called the paramedics, Morgan, Rossi and JJ arrived at the scene just as they arrived. The paramedics were busy with Myers when I told them to call Emily because Hotch had been attacked," Spencer said picturing it clearly. "None of them asked the paramedics which hospital they were taking me to. They called Emily and rushed to St Bartholomew's to see Hotch."

"So they don't know that you're still a patient?" Tony said hopefully, trying to make sense of the absence of Spencer's team. "I'm sure you were downplaying your injury at the scene so maybe they thought you'd be discharged straight from the ED."

"Then why did nobody come to pick me up? Or even call to check on me? Did they expect me to manage to get myself home and up three flights of stairs alone on crutches?" Spencer asked still hurting.

"No need for that. You're coming home with me until you can walk up the stairs easily. That reminds me. I was at a crime scene in a condo in DC you might like if it gets put on the market. The press managed to sneak a photographer into the apartment and the crime scene in the lounge is fairly identifiable without major structural renovations, so it's going to be hard to sell. It might be heritage listed though. What's your top budget?" Tony said.

He honestly thought that the condo would be too big and too expensive for Spencer but it was in the right location and more importantly for the moment it stopped Spencer from dwelling on the abandonment by his team.

"I had a really successful couple of nights last time I went to visit Mom so I could go as high as $350,000 without a mortgage," Spencer replied.

"This might be a bit more than that, it was valued at $670,000 before the crime," Tony warned him.

"It was already on the market? I couldn't get that big a mortgage, I still have to pay for Bennington for my mom and the banks don't consider gambling profits as income," Spencer replied.

"It already being on the market is an advantage. It means that anyone who had been interested in it before the family were killed will recognise the crime scene in the papers. It also means that the owner will now be desperate to sell and if you put in an offer, particularly if your prepared to transfer the money to him immediately so he can get out of DC and away from the spotlight, he'll probably take it," Tony said encouragingly.

"Are you positive that he isn't the unsub?" Spencer asked.

"He has an alibi and no motive, one of the victims was his daughter," Tony replied.

Spencer nodded acceptingly. "Tell me about the condo?"

"It's on 4th Street NE just over half a mile from union station, it's two levels and an attic with a ground floor flat underneath, there's next to no garden but it has a secure garage accessed from the rear and a large balcony takes up the whole garage roof. It's four bedrooms (well only three in the main condo) which is a bit more than you need. All the downstairs windows have security grills. It's Victorian built in 1908 and the owners have modernised the kitchen and bathrooms but kept the wood and the stained glass," Tony rambled.

It's not in a large apartment block?" Spencer asked.

"No but it's no less secure than your apartment. You know that the feeling of security in being on the third or fourth floor of a large block is mostly an illusion," Tony said. "You might want to check that the front door panel is bulletproof glass but other than that security is pretty good."

"Who lives in the bottom flat? Do they own it or are the renting?"

"The bottom flat is currently included in the purchase. It's currently empty, the tenants moved out after the shooting. So, you could vet the new tenants and use their rent to pay your mortgage. With all the publicity from the crime you should put in an offer. I would have suggested $400,000 but you could offer $350,000 for super quick settlement and see if they go for it," Tony suggested.

"Sounds like it could be worth a look," Spencer agreed. He was well aware that Tony had brought the subject up to distract him from his hurt over the argument with JJ but that didn't mean he wasn't interested. He wasn't sure he wanted to own what sounded like a whole house but his apartment was too small for him and all his books, even now he had boxes stacked to the ceiling in the tiny room described by his landlord as a second bedroom. Not to mention that walking upstairs was going to hurt like hell for quite a while and the elevator in his building was broken down more often than not.

"You should go, it's getting late. Visiting hours must be over," Spencer said hesitantly once the nurse had left. He did feel safer with his friend there. And Tony's presence stopped him from dwelling on the fact that his team still hadn't contacted him since he was taken to hospital, but he didn't want to be a burden.

"I'm staying here. We're off rotation tomorrow anyway so it doesn't matter if I take some personal time. The Director offered me the day. I think she thinks we're romantically involved," Tony said waggling his eyebrows.

Spencer laughed as Tony had intended him to.

"Try to get some sleep, I'm here and the marines are outside the door. He's not getting in here Spence," Tony said.

"Thanks Tony. I don't know what I would've done without you," Spencer said reaching out to his friend.

Tony grabbed his hand and held it, "I'll be here when you wake up Spence. You need to try to rest."

A/N: In the actual show, JJ told the others she'd spoken to Spencer just after Haley and Jack left the hospital. Spencer told them he was fine, he didn't spend weeks in traction and there was no indication he was abandoned by the team.

A/N2: Thank you to Guest, Village-Mystic, paskinmath, 9, Ilikealotofstuffpieghosts, blue moon, R3d R0s3, Emergency70, LyokoHacker, IWillNeverAdmitToThis, Monstersinsidemyhead, ShoshonaTheRose, Roxysassyblue, Lhewitt, NotaFro, Melda91, Nesareli88, krabbycow1110 and theworldiscrazy for your support.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Tony visited Spence in hospital as regularly as he could depending on the cases he was working. Though sometimes it was a few minutes on the way to work in the morning to deliver a decent cup of coffee and a tired visit on his way home late at night. On cold case and paperwork days he was able to arrive at a dinner time with take-away for two and an armload of library books and spent the evening talking over cases, books and anything else that came up. One subject that wasn't discussed though was Spencer's team. Tony knew Spencer was hurting at their abandonment but there was nothing he could say about it to help him. Spencer on his part wasn't ready to admit out loud how hurt he was.

Garcia had finally pinged his phone and realised he was at the hospital, she'd called by made a fuss about how upset she was with him and Hotch both in hospital. Spencer was able to finally get her to calm down enough to tell him about Hotch's injuries and how he was. She also told him about Haley and Jack coming to say goodbye before going into witness protection, which he already knew. Crying about how much Hotch must be suffering not knowing where is son was.

Spencer was able to piece enough of the story together to know that Hotch injuries would probably have some effect on his digestive system for the rest of his life but weren't likely to be life threatening or career ending. It was going to be weeks if not months before Spencer knew if his knee would heal up well enough but Garcia hadn't asked about it so Spencer didn't think it would help to tell her about it. She brought him her spare kindle and showed him how to load new books onto it.

Spencer had expected that after Garcia had been, the rest of the team would follow but it didn't happen. He waited, expectantly at first, then with diminishing hope. His team must know where he was, Garcia was hopeless at concealing information from them and he hadn't asked her to keep it secret. It seemed that they didn't have time to care for him. Garcia hadn't mentioned them being away on the case, but he knew it was possible they'd been called in just after she left. With two members down though it was likely they were stuck in the office doing consults.

-o0o-

Hotch was finally reunited with his cell phone on discharge from Hospital, but waited until he arrived home and was settled in by Emily before he checked his messages. Amongst the general business calls from his dry cleaner, apartment manager etc., there were a few stressed out and angry calls from Haley's family, a lot of semi-sincere well wishes from colleagues in the FBI who had their eyes on his position managing one of the most successful teams in the Bureau and a daily missed call and anxious messages of hope for a speedy recovery from Dr Spencer Reid, none of which contained an explanation why he hadn't been in to visit with the rest of the team.

Hotch decided he wanted an explanation and rang the young genius. For the next few hours Hotch alternated between worry and annoyance at his colleague for being out of reach or refusing to answer his boss' calls. Even if he were on holiday, Aaron had thought they were good enough friends for the young man to answer, unless he was punishing him for not answering all the calls he'd made while Hotch was in the hospital. That didn't make sense though, surely Reid would have known that Hotch's phone was left behind at his apartment and hadn't been given to him while in hospital so he wouldn't be tempted to try to find or ring Haley while he wasn't coping well with his injuries and the separation.

Finally, he got through and was greeted by the sound of a rather drunken sounding Spencer Reid.

"Hey Hotch, you rang me? I can't believe it! Are you okay? Well I know you're probably not okay yet but are you feeling better? Are you out of hospital yet? Can you eat normal food again yet?" He rambled.

"I was discharged this morning, I've been eating real food for the last few days, if you can call hospital food normal. But you'd know all this if you'd been to visit. Where are you?" Aaron replied amused.

"I've been a little bit tied up," Spencer giggled. "Like literally tied up which is funny because it feels more like being tied down to stop me floating away today. But I couldn't come, and nobody would put my calls through or tell me how you were. You had lots of visitors though. Everybody was so busy visiting you. Which is okay though I'm glad you didn't have to be lonely. I'm glad your home now. Are you alone, is someone staying to look after you, keep you safe. I hope you're safe."

"Spencer are you high?" Aaron demanded.

Tony had been biting his knuckles to prevent him from laughing out loud at his friend's dopey conversation with his boss. He could just imagine how Gibbs would deal with a subordinate rambling on at him like that. When he heard Hotch's question though he knew he needed to intervene before his friend accidently lost his job. He prised the phone from Spencer's hand, ignoring his whining about it.

"Dr Reid isn't high Agent Hotchner, he has just come out of surgery and is still under the influence of the anaesthetic. His surgeon has been by to inform us that the surgery was successful and Spencer should be able to walk on the leg again eventually, though not for some months yet. He will be discharged within the week and should be able to return to desk duty the week after that if that's alright with you Sir," Tony said in a professional voice without introducing himself.

"Give it back I wanna talk," Spencer demanded.

"Spencer, I really don't think that you should be talking to your boss until the Anaesthetic clears your system," Tony replied.

"Wasn't talking to my boss. Was talking to my friend Hotch," Spencer argued.

"No Spence, I don't think you were. Agent Hotchner sounded like he was ringing to find out your whereabouts and whether you were capable of returning to work," Tony replied.

To his horror, and Aaron's on the other end of the phone, Spencer burst into noisy sobbing tears and he dropped the phone to try to comfort his friend, not realising that the call hadn't disconnected.

"Why won't they be my friends?" Spencer sobbed. "I understand Morgan and JJ not wanting to hang around with someone as geeky as me. But Emily and Garcia and Hotch are all secretly geeks too. And this isn't public, there's nobody here to see them and make them embarrassed by me here. Why would they leave me here all alone? I would never do this to them."

Tony hugged Spencer rocking him slightly. "You're not alone, I'm here for you Spencer, and I'm going to stay here with you every day until you can come home. It's their loss Spence, you're a terrific friend. It's not your fault."

The nurse came in and quietly asked if Spencer was in pain. He shook his head.

"He's had an emotional upset," Tony said quietly.

"It's important he stay still, I'll get him a sedative," the nurse said.

"He's allergic to all narcotics," Tony said.

"I understand but he needs to calm down," she said leaving the room. She returned shortly with another nurse who checked Spencer's ID with the first nurse and gave him a shot.

Slowly the sobbing stopped and Spencer fell asleep.

Hotch disconnected the call and sat his heart aching at his friend's heartbreak. He didn't understand what had happened. The team was normally so overprotective of their young genius, he couldn't believe they'd left him alone in hospital. Perhaps it was all a storm in a teacup brought on by Spencer waking up from the surgery before his friends were allowed in.

-o0o-

Garcia and JJ brought Hotch a home cooked meal for his first night home.

"Where's Reid?" Hotch asked as they dished up.

"I brought pot roast and potatoes" JJ said.

"And lemon meringue pie" Garcia added.

"Which hospital is Reid in?" Hotch asked.

"Hospital?" JJ asked. "He's fine, it was a flesh wound. I think he's taken the opportunity to go and visit his Mom while he can't work."

"He'd just come out of surgery when I rang him. He was too out of it to tell me where he was but the doctors had just told him that the operation was successful and he'd be able to walk again in a few months. Does that sound like a flesh wound to you?" Hotch said severely.

"He's in University Hospital," Garcia said softly.

"Why didn't you tell us?" JJ asked, annoyed.

"I only found out a week ago," Garcia said. "I went to visit and he said he was fine. Asked about Hotch mostly. And what was going on with the search for the Reaper."

"So you've been visiting, why didn't you tell us so we could visit too?" JJ asked.

"You were so angry with him," Penelope said. "And Emily and Morgan have put every spare minute into searching for the Reaper. I didn't want to distract them from the search. Spencer knows how important that is."

"More important than his well-being," Hotch replied sombrely.

"What no!" JJ protested.

"Junior G-man knows we'll be there for him when he needs us," Garcia said.

'And you decided he didn't need us while he spent the last two weeks waiting to find out if he'd ever walk again?' Hotch thought furiously. He knew that saying anything more would do more harm than good at the moment. They'd be at the hospital camped out expressing their guilt and it didn't sound like Reid was ready to deal with that. He changed the subject asking for updates on the search for the Reaper and Reid was forgotten.

-o0o-

It was three days before Hotch managed to leave his apartment on his own. Not being well enough to drive or face public transport he ordered a cab to take him to University Hospital. The driver took one look at him and immediately suggested a hospital closer to home.

"No, it needs to be University" Hotch replied.

"As quick as I can or as gentle?" the taxi driver asked.

"Gentle please" Hotch said gratefully.

To say that the ride was still an ordeal would be an understatement. Even more of an ordeal was walking from the entrance to the information desk, the elevator and finding Reid's room. Only the knowledge that Reid needed to know that some of the team still cared for him kept him from giving up.

He was surprised to see the marine detail outside Reid's room. Even more so when they checked his ID and held him waiting while they checked with whoever was inside.

It almost hurt how much Reid's face lit up at the sight of him. "Hey Hotch."

"It's Aaron, Spencer, I'm not here as your team leader today. I came to visit my friend" he said gently.

"You heard that last night?" Spencer squeaked turning bright red.

"Your friend dropped the phone in his rush to comfort you" Aaron replied.

Spencer hung his head. "None of that Spencer, you know very well that you can't be held responsible for your reactions while still under the influence of the general anaesthetic drugs," Aaron scolded gently. "More than that Spence you never should have been left to feel like that. I had no idea you were injured at all until I rang you yesterday. And when I spoke to JJ and Garcia to find which hospital you were in last night, JJ didn't know you'd been admitted, she thought you'd gone home to see your Mum, and Garcia hadn't realised you were still here."

"JJ is one of the two team mates I have spoken to since I was admitted. She rang to tell me off for scaring Henry and Will with the marine protection detail that I organised, then hung up on me. A detail that arrived on site five hours before her FBI protection arrived. Garcia actually visited a week ago, I don't know how she got the impression I was about to be discharged, I was in traction," Spencer said indignantly.

Aaron frowned. "They won't tell me about what they're doing but from Dave's complaints he's doing my job as well as his and Morgan's, while Morgan and Garcia concentrate on looking for the Reaper. That's no excuse for them not taking care of you. How much longer will you be here?"

"I'm out of here tomorrow if all goes well and I can learn to use those damnable crutches, I'll be staying with a friend who lives in a building with a reliable elevator," Spencer replied.

"I'm glad to hear you're not on your own. You would be welcome to stay with me but I don't think Jack's bed would be long enough for you," Aaron said, trying not to think about how uncomfortable he was with the idea of someone sleeping in Jack's bed.

"Thanks Hotch… um… Aaron. But I wouldn't want to impose," Spencer said awkwardly.

"You wouldn't be imposing," Aaron protested weakly.

"It's Jack's room, I would be imposing on him. I'd rather sleep on your couch than invade your son's space like that. My friend has a guest room, and while he is as much of a lady's man as Morgan he has a strict policy of never bringing them to his own home, so I won't be cramping his style," Spencer replied. "Your offer means a lot to me Aaron, but I think we'll both be more comfortable if I don't stay in Jack's room."

"Besides with a bit of luck the team will find Foyet any day now and Jack will need his room back," Spencer said optimistically.

"I hope you are right Spencer but I can see him dropping off the grid again just to watch me suffer, the way he did Shaunessy," Aaron said despairingly.

"Shaunessy made the deal not to look for him, and even if he had looked, he didn't have Garcia to track him down. The team will find him, Hotch," Spencer argued.

"Tell me about the Marines?" Aaron asked.

Spencer blushed, "My friend Tony found me here after seeing the shooting on the news, and I was worried that if he could then Foyet could too. Tony arranged the marine guard for me and one for Will and Henry until the FBI protection detail arrived."

"And the protection detail never arrived?" Aaron looked horrified. Spencer was right he was in danger here in the hospital and with his leg injured, he could neither run nor fight. He had needed protection.

"They replaced the Marine's at JJ's after about five hours but Tony's director reamed them out for not organising a detail for me as soon as they learned what had happened to you, especially after Foyet had already attacked Morgan. She said she wouldn't trust my safety to such incompetent care and she would take care of things properly and send them the bill. The Deputy Director agreed that FBI are paying for the marines," Spencer replied smirking.

"I'd like to be a fly on the wall when Strauss gets that bill," Aaron said smirking.

"The Deputy Director is quite upset with her about it," Spencer agreed laughing. His friend Aaron was quite funny when he dropped the unit chief persona.

"I'd better go. I need to get home before my pain medication wears off," Aaron said apologetically.

"You didn't drive yourself?" Spencer asked worried.

"No but I'm sure my taxi driver found every pothole between my apartment and here," Aaron said humorously.

Spencer winced in sympathy.

"Do you want me to ask Garcia to vet your friend before you move in?" Aaron offered. Using FBI resources to check up on friends and potential partners was strictly forbidden and Hotch wouldn't have offered for any of the rest of the team but he felt protective of their youngest member.

Spencer chuckled. "No thanks, we've been friends a while and I'd rather not encourage Garcia to stick her nose into my personal life."

"Point taken," Aaron agreed with a small shudder. "Take care of yourself and call me if you need anything at all, even if it is just someone to talk to."

"Only if you promise to call me if you need to talk to someone other than Rossi. Or if there's anything I can do to help," Spencer countered. "Stay safe."

"You too Spencer," Hotch said slowly walking out. He was aware of Reid's eyes on him assessing his health and wellbeing but it didn't feel intrusive and Spencer kept whatever conclusions he came to to himself.

-o0o-

He finally was allowed to leave and Tony arrived in his mustang to pick him up. He helped Spencer into the car with minimal fuss and drove to Spencer's apartment.

"Do you want me to grab your stuff, or would you like me to help you upstairs to collect it yourself? I checked this morning, the elevator is working for the moment," Tony asked.

"If the elevator is working, I could stay here," Spencer replied.

"Yeah!" Tony said sarcastically. "Until it breaks down again and I have to carry your skinny ass down three flights of stairs."

Spencer chuckled at Tony's theatrics, "Okay, I'll come up and pack my stuff."

Unsurprisingly, Spencer was a very efficient packer, he had several 'go bags' prepacked in the bottom of his wardrobe and he grabbed the one suitable for DC weather and quickly added more workout gear and casual clothes, the journal articles he'd been working on and the new books from his bedside that he hadn't had the chance to read yet.

Tony had gone through the kitchen and thrown out the perishable food and emptied the bins cleaning out the fridge for a long absence. Spencer joined him and added his coffee supply and favourite biscuits to his bag.

The elevator shuddered on the way down, and Tony got out of it looking shaken and very glad to be on firm ground. "I don't know how you do that every day?" he said.

"I don't, I take the stairs," Spencer replied. "The subway is enough adventure for me."

Tony laughed.

-o0o-

Tony woke in fright hearing Spencer muttering in his sleep. He dragged himself out of bed and went into the guest room to wake his friend up again.

"Spence, Spence you're safe here with me. It's Tony, you're at my place until your knee is better," he told him knowing how disoriented he was when he woke from his own nightmares.

"Tony?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah you had another nightmare."

"Sorry, they tend to be worse when I'm injured. You don't need to keep getting up and waking me though. I'll be fine," Spencer apologised.

"It's fine Spence. I'm not going to leave you to have nightmares while I'm here to wake you," Tony said comfortingly. "Was it about the shooting?"

"No the case before that, the UNSUBs were experimenting on spinal cord surgery on homeless people, then feeding them to their pigs. We found evidence of so many people, we're never going to be able to identify them all and notify their families. One of the unsubs was mentally retarded had a mental age of about three and was being manipulated by his brother who was a quadriplegic, he didn't know any better and when we caught the smart brother he did everything in his power to get us to shoot his brother on sight so we wouldn't realise he didn't have capacity to understand that what they were doing was wrong."

"It is going to be impossible to prove in court," Tony said.

"It won't be necessary, the unsub was killed by one of the victims' brother," Spencer said. "He's going to go to prison because he killed a monster. It was him that alerted us to the case in the first place, he was looking for his sister when he became aware of the other homeless going missing. I don't think I ever want to eat pork again," Spencer replied.

Tony knew better than to ask why when whatever it was had so recently caused Spencer's nightmare. "So, no pork or bacon, any other dietary rules?" he asked.

"No Chilli," Spencer said shuddering.

"Dare I ask why?" Tony asked.

"Not if you want to sleep tonight," Spencer replied.

Tony chucked, knowing enough about Spencer's job to take the warning seriously. "Do you want a snack or a glass of hot milk to help you sleep?"

Spencer gagged. "No thanks, I'm going to read for a while."

"Okay then night?"

"Night Tony, thanks," Spencer replied.

-o0o-

"Why do we have an invoice for marine guards at University Hospital during the time you were there Agent Reid?" Strauss asked.

"The incident with Myers and my injury were on the news, a friend of mine used that news story to find me when I missed an appointment. Given that Foyet had attacked Hotch and already previously attacked Morgan, my friend thought that if he could find me from the news item then Foyet could too. It was a valid threat, I needed the protection and I couldn't disagree. He ordered the marines and then cleared it with his director afterwards. Hotch was constantly guarded during his admission and you approved the added security posted for JJ's family. Lying in a hospital bed in traction, I was an open target and my friend thought that was unacceptable," Spencer replied calmly.

As much as Strauss wanted to argue she knew that Reid was right, she should have posted guards for him while he was hospitalized. "Did the marines see any sign of George Foyet?"

"They reported a man who matched his general height and build turning around and leaving the building as soon as he saw their presence but they didn't get a good enough look at his face to identify. Suspiciously his face is also obscured on all of the hospital CCTV and when Tony's team tried to track his movements when he left the hospital he was deviously evasive," Reid reported.

It seemed that Dr Reid's mysterious friend was right, she couldn't refuse to pay for the protection detail that had probably saved her agent's life. She sighed and signed the authorisation. She was probably going to receive some heat for doing so but it was the right thing to do after having failed to arrange security for Dr Reid herself.

"Very well I will authorise payment this time but I demand that this not happen again," Strauss replied sourly. "It would have been far more cost effective to have requested that I organise your protection."

"For eighteen days around the clock protection while I was in hospital and the platoon to secure JJ's neighbourhood and protect her for the six hours until the FBI detail arrived I think that's a reasonable amount Ma'am," Spencer offered.

"Eighteen days, I was told you had a flesh wound?" Strauss said questioningly.

"You were misinformed. The details are in my report. I sent it in to Hotch a week ago, but I guess he's only just got it," Spencer replied frowning.

"Send me a copy," Strauss demanded.

"Yes Ma'am" Spencer replied standing. "For the record Ma'am I never asked for a guard, nor asked my friend to use the marines instead of requesting the FBI to provide protection. My friend works for NCIS, he has had bad experiences with the FBI in the past and it was his decision to use Marines and his boss and his Director authorised it.

A/N: Thank you to Guest, Village-Mystic, Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest, leahk80, Guest, Firesong23, Reader Ethiriel, ahowell1993, Locket1, crazybluewings, ASHLEYEMMA25, ddrgirl18, ABaines, IceAngel1982, Celestial Serendipity, Ari Rey, Psycho8, laraferreira, SundayStars, turbomagnus, DanniiGirl, Icequeenk, Dr1zzy, katarvilla, TheAngelsarewatching, Meme4408, Inet43, ruler of the ice dragons, SassyKatSam, wathou, Qryste, LilMixer, Nerdy Beth, amokima, linpdmed, Haley-Belle, melissa. , calindsay, Wauzi, jaggedrocks513, jarnsaxa, dragonsfae, sherrilynn, Lauren7211, Luxray-Vision, SkullAuror107, C'mon, GladToBeAbnormal, Camieko, Chalithra and Bonny810 for your support.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

"How was your first case back?" Tony asked as he walked in to find Spencer flopped on his couch. The younger man was still staying with him until he came off crutches. He'd been working for the NSA for the last week but this was his first day back at the BAU.

"It was okay," Spencer said frowning, then trying to be more optimistic. "It was good to have something to do."

"You don't look as happy as I'd expected. Did something happen?" Tony asked perceptively.

"It was Hotch's first case back too," Spencer replied.

"Isn't that good that your boss is well enough to return to work?" Tony asked confused.

"Yeah I'm glad he's back. He seemed really stressed though," Spencer said frowning.

"Worried about and missing his kid stressed, or PTSD stressed?" Tony asked worried.

"I'd diagnose a serious depression with suicidal risk taking more than PTSD," Spencer said thoughtfully. "He was agitated, angry and emotional, then he took his vest off today and approached a mentally disturbed unsub all alone."

"Did someone speak to him about it?" Tony asked.

"Morgan did, though it was more yelling than speaking. I don't think it did any good. The tension on the jet on the way home was almost palpable, Emily and Rossi are bending over backwards trying to support Hotch and Morgan's watching every move just waiting for him to crack," Spencer replied.

"You be careful Spence, working for a suicidal boss is dangerous as hell and your job's hazardous enough, you don't need the added risk," Tony said alarmed.

"Did they throw a welcome back party for the two of you?" Tony asked inadvertently hitting another nerve.

"Garcia baked his favourite cookies for Hotch," Spencer said frowning.

"Were they good? Did you save me one?" Tony asked outrageously, grinning to let the younger man know he was teasing.

"I don't know, she didn't let me have any," Spencer said. "I'm starting to think about asking to switch teams."

"Changing departments? Where would you go? You said your job as a profiler was the best use of your brain," Tony asked, he wished he could offer the genius a position at NCIS but his range of knowledge would be wasted there, though his language abilities would be useful in one of the European offices.

"There's a sabbatical leave TAD position coming up on Garrett's international response team. I thought about applying to be seconded there. It will piss off the NSA but it'd be a great experience," Spencer replied.

"And what will you do when the person comes back?" Tony asked.

"I don't know. Maybe by then, I'll have a little more distance and can work with my team without getting too attached again," Spencer said hopefully. "I can't go unless Foyet's caught though. I couldn't abandon Hotch like that."

"Does that mean you don't want to look at the condo on the weekend?" Tony asked.

"Garrett's team work out of Quantico too, though they're away longer per case they also average more days at home between cases, so I'd still need a place to live. It would make a good investment, and the idea of owning my own home is growing on me. Your condo is so beautifully quiet. I have new neighbours who are rather too fond of the most horrendous music, some band called the Screaming Zombies and I don't think my apartment building meets the current building codes for sound insulation," Spencer said scowling at the memory of trying to sleep through the hideous noise.

Tony laughed. "I think the sound of the Screaming Zombies could get through any level of sound insulation. That's one of Abby's favourites, she plays it in the lab. You have my sympathies."

"And you have mine, to have to deal with that in close quarters at work," Spencer replied shuddering. "How on earth does she get away with it?"

"She's Gibbs' favourite," Tony said rolling his eyes.

Spencer nodded sympathetically. For all the problem he was having with his team he was glad he didn't have to work for Gibbs.

-o0o-

The next day the NCIS team were on cold cases and Tony took some personal leave to collect Spencer from work to show him the condo. He could see how much Spencer's team meant to him and wanted to try to get to know them a little in the hope he would be able to help his friend through whatever had happened between them. He also wanted to remind them how real friends treated each other. He stopped at the bakery and bought a dozen of Spencer's favourite cookies to give him in front of his team mates.

"Hey Tony I thought we were meeting there?" Spencer said surprised.

"I was in the area and thought I'd save you struggling with the train with those crutches. Are you ready to go?" Tony said ignoring the rest of the team and smiling at Spencer.

"Yeah let me return these extra cases to the people they belong to and clear it with Hotch," Spencer replied slapping two files on Prentiss's desk and three on Morgan's.

"They still slipping you extra work even when you're injured. I hope they've been returning the favour by giving you a ride home since they're stopping you from leaving early enough to avoid the peak hour rush," Tony said loudly, knowing they hadn't offered. "I brought us some cookies, since you didn't get any the other day," he added as a brightly coloured woman entered the bullpen."

Spencer flushed, he knew there was no point trying to stop Tony, he would make the point he was trying to make no matter what Spencer said or wanted.

"Who are you?" Garcia asked.

"A friend of Spencer's. I had a witness interview out here and stopped to offer Spence a ride home. He's been struggling with the train with his crutches and if he doesn't get to the station before the start of peak hour he'd be stuck here until 2100 waiting for the trains to empty out enough to get a seat," Tony said.

"Why didn't he ask one of us for a ride?" Emily asked.

"Last time he rang you for help on a personal matter none of you returned his calls. He spent two weeks in traction and none of you visited him. Foyet did though, it was lucky the protection I arranged for Spencer scared him off," Tony said bluntly.

"Foyet was at the hospital, why didn't he call somebody?" Hotch asked coming down the stairs.

"Before you accuse Spencer of not informing anyone, ask your agents how many missed calls they received from him and didn't bother to return over the eighteen days he was in the hospital," Tony snapped. "My team tried to track him but he had too much of a head start by the time Abby and Tim got the CCTV footage."

"I informed Strauss officially when we spoke about my protection detail this morning, by the way Tony, you can tell your director Strauss agreed to pay the bill she sent," Spencer added to Tony.

"I'll have my team send yours the footage but Spencer went over it already, there's nothing to learn from it," Tony offered.

"Please," Hotch bit out, making an effort to be polite to this stranger his agent obviously trusted so highly. This was the friend Spencer had been staying with, he eyed him curiously wondering exactly what the relationship was between them. Reid was one of the most non-judgmental people on the planet and it wouldn't surprise him if Spencer was bisexual and it would be good for him not to be alone but the two of them weren't giving off that vibe.

-o0o-

"Who the hell was that?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know?" Garcia replied. "Why?"

"Reid's friend, Tony," Emily replied. "Someone he trusts."

"NCIS," Hotch said. "What I want to know is why Reid needed to ask NCIS to arrange protection for him when he was in hospital?"

"More than he trusts us?" Garcia asked affronted, ignoring Hotch.

"He trusts us in the field. I just don't think he trusts us to be there for him anymore otherwise," JJ said.

"I thought he refused to come out with us the other night because of his knee, but it wasn't, was it?" Emily asked sadly.

"He's stopped rambling about things to us too. I was grateful for it but I never stopped to ask why?" Rossi said.

"You're his best friend. Have you met this Tony?" Morgan asked JJ.

"No. Spencer has only rung me once since the day he was shot," JJ revealed. "He rang late one night but didn't leave a message."

"What? He was talking to Hotch about having lunch with Henry the other day," Morgan said shocked.

"He did. He met Henry and Will at the zoo on Saturday while I ran errands and did the shopping," JJ said sighing.

"What happened?" Emily asked shocked.

"Spencer called me a dozen times the day he was shot. When he couldn't get hold of me he rang the house but Will and Henry were out. Then his friend arranged a protection detail to check the house and maintained the security until the FBI arrived to set up their protection. I called him and yelled at him for scaring Will and Henry and the neighbours, then hung up on him without letting him explain. I was worried that the marines would scare Henry but someone told them to tell him they were friends with Spencer. I also told him off for not coming to see Hotch. I didn't realise he'd been admitted and couldn't come. Other than the call late at night which I assume now was to warn me about Foyet trying to get to him, I didn't hear from him until he returned to work. He didn't even come by to see Henry until this weekend, I figured that he'd been to visit his Mom." JJ explained sadly.

"According to his case report he spent eighteen days in hospital, fourteen of those in traction," Hotch said severely. He frowned at everyone's reactions. "You didn't know? None of you?"

"Seriously Hotch?" Morgan asked in shock. "He didn't seem that injured."

"Two lots of surgery and fourteen days in traction. He will be on crutches and light duties for at least the next three months," Hotch replied. "He also filed a temporary change of address since he can't get up the stairs to his apartment. Instead of feeling put out that Reid has a friend he hasn't told you about you ought to be grateful that he had someone to pick up your slack when he needed it."

They all slunk away but Hotch noticed that JJ and Morgan headed towards Garcia's lair instead of back to their desks.

"And Garcia, I forbid you from doing 'a thing'. You are to leave that man strictly alone. If Reid wants to tell us about him he will. You won't re-earn his trust by hacking into his private life, and his friend does not deserve to have you messing with his credit rating because you are angry with him for being there for Reid when you chose not to be. Morgan, Prentiss you have files to finish. I expect to see them on my desk ready to sign off by 0700. If I catch you slipping Reid your work like that again I'll speak to management about also donating Reid a percentage of your salaries as well. Only fair if he's doing a quarter of your paperwork."

Morgan and Prentiss stared at Hotch in horror. "He's never minded doing the extra work, he's so much quicker than everyone else," Morgan protested.

"Which is why he is allocated nearly twice as many consults as you are already" Hotch said uncompromisingly.

"Did you ever ask him?" JJ asked.

"Well no but he would have put them back if he minded, he knows we do it, he even knew which consults came from who," Emily replied uncomfortably.

-o0o-

"Where are you getting all these consults from?" Tim asked when Tony arrived back from another coffee run with new ideas or insights on a case.

"From a friend," Tony replied. "Don't worry he has more than the necessary clearance."

"Who is he and where did you meet him?" Gibbs asked suspiciously.

"Spencer is a profiler for the BAU," Tony replied. "And a certified genius. He also consults regularly for Homeland and the NSA so his clearance is better than mine, even for Navy and Marine related information." He left out that Spencer also did consults for the CIA because that would guarantee Gibbs wouldn't trust him.

"A certified genius?" Tim asked wondering how much smarter this man could be than he was. He soon found out.

"IQ of 187, graduated high school at twelve, three PhDs before he was twenty-one and has refused recruitment by the CIA every month for the last six or seven years," Tony listed, bragging about his friend.

"Wow, they really want him. He must have some serious clout to get away with turning them down like that," Ziva said.

"Where did the two of you meet?" Tim asked, wondering where Tony would meet a genius and what the two had in common to start off their friendship.

"I'm afraid that's classified above your pay grade," Tony said grinning.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked.

"I'm serious boss. I met him through a case, his not ours and even your clearance isn't enough to be told about it," Tony said.

Gibbs all but dragged him into the elevator and pulled the emergency stop. "You're mine. If you're involved in something I need to know about it so I can have your back," he growled.

"I'm not involved in anything. I met him at my rehab sessions," Tony said quietly.

"For your lungs?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah but all I really know is that his lungs were damaged similarly to mine but he didn't have the plague and whatever happened is classified 'eyes only' and is 'threaten the civilians who know even part of it with military prison if they talk' level serious and he's never going to be allowed to talk about it," Tony said, lying to protect his friend. Thankfully there was enough truth in what he said to convince Gibbs to drop it.

Gibbs just growled.

"He's one of the good guys Boss and his mind works so quickly that he's often glad for a new problem to think about, as a profiler he interprets people's actions and patterns of behaviour a little differently than we do and sometimes it's useful. Other times it just helps that he knows the most obscure information," Tony said reassuringly.

-o0o-

"Why are you unwilling for me to meet your team again? Are you still worried that I'll tear them a new one for leaving you alone when you got shot?" Tony asked one night when they were out having a drink.

"You already did," Spencer reminded him. "I'm more worried about you teaming up with Morgan, he's always trying to get me to go out and meet girls too. It's torture."

"Women Spence, girls are fine for one night stands but I doubt that's what you're looking for, you need a woman not a girl to handle the stresses of dating an agent," Tony replied.

"I'm just not the sort of guy who can go up to a woman in a bar and impress her," Spencer said dejectedly.

"Then you need to try somewhere you are comfortable to be yourself," Tony suggested. "Try chatting up the next pretty girl you meet in the library or bookshop. Or maybe you need to enrol in a new degree, taking classes might be a good way to get to know girls who you have an interest in common with."

"Like I'm going to be able to keep to a class schedule with my job" Spencer scoffed.

"Spencer, you're a bona fide genius. Any college is going to be thrilled to have you studying with them. They'll make allowances for your work schedule, after all it isn't as if you're not going to be able to keep up with the work," Tony reminded him.

Spencer thought about it and started to grin, he had continued to keep up with academic advances in his multiple areas of interest and had published a couple of papers related to both his PhDs and the psychology and sociology involved in the development of serial killers and guest lectured at Georgetown but he had missed being in classes and formal learning. "I guess I could take some more classes in abnormal psychology and try to turn that degree into a PhD," he said thoughtfully.

"Hey slow down Buddy. We're primarily trying to get you laid. Are you going to meet the kind of women you're comfortable with doing that?" Tony asked amused.

"Well I'm not going to meet adult women in an undergrad degree," Spencer replied.

"You've got a point there but are you going to meet the kind of woman you want a relationship with in abnormal psychology?" Tony asked.

"I don't know. I guess at least I'd have something to talk to them about," Spencer replied.

"I don't know about you Spence but I've learned that the less I say to women about my job the better. Women get all strange about dating an agent and it seems to attract the crazies. And let's face it some of your stories about the job almost gave me nightmares."

"I might have more luck in physics subjects, I can talk to scientists without getting nervous, but I probably wouldn't learn anything useful for my job," Spencer said thoughtfully.

"Again, I'll point out, that the aim of going back to school is to get you talking to women you're comfortable with to get you a girlfriend, or at least laid, not to make you even better at a job you already excel at," Tony said amused.

"Well what sort of course do you think I should go for then?" Spencer asked.

"Well if you really want to do this then you want something you can talk easily about with confidence without rambling, or better yet a course where your rambling could be interesting and valuable to the other students. Ideally a course with at least 75% of the students being female, something like literature or history maybe. If it were me I'd pick a class on chick flicks but that wouldn't work for you," Tony said thoughtfully.

Spencer burst out laughing. "My mother's an expert in 15th century literature, she specifically loves the romantic literature from this time period. I do have a degree in literature I've never really counted. I could easily get into master level classes in literature."

"That's it Spence, play to your strengths," Tony said enthusiastically.

-o0o-

"I look ridiculous!" Spencer declared looking at himself in the store mirror. He was wearing black skinny jeans as tight as they could be and an open shirt over a black wife beater. Though he had to admit that the clothes weren't as bad as the outfits Garcia tried to make him purchase last time she'd blackmailed him into going shopping with her.

"The only part of that outfit that looks ridiculous is the shoes," Tony replied.

"They're the only part of this outfit that I feel comfortable in. I can't believe people actually wear jeans this tight. I'm afraid to sit down for fear I'll cut myself in half," Spencer retorted. "I can't go out like this I look like an idiot and nobody would wear trousers like this if they're going to be spending hours sitting in a lecture theatre. I'd look like one of those stupid guys that was more interested in how they look than the lecture or anything else."

Tony still talked him into buying and wearing the outfit for the rest of the afternoon but he soon saw the problem with it. Sure, Spencer looked amazingly hot but he also looked deeply uncomfortable and increasingly twitchy. Twitchy enough to drive away any women that the tight ass in those jeans were attracting.

"You're right, you'll never pick up a decent woman in those clothes," Tony admitted defeat.

"I told you so," Spencer retorted.

"Spence, you look freaking gorgeous in those pants and nearly hot enough to make a straight man want to tap that ass," Tony said pretending to leer. "They even make your hair look fashionably non-conformist instead of just allergic to the idea of decent haircare. The problem is that you can't be comfortable in them, and you can't be confident if you're so uncomfortable. We need to find clothes that feel like your old ones but don't make you look like a college professor escaped from the last century."

Spencer laughed self-consciously. "My clothes aren't that bad, are they?"

"Spencer half the time you look like you're wearing your grandfather's clothes and the rest of the time like you bought them at the op shop, it's only when you're dressed for our physio sessions that you look like you're not trying to hide behind your clothing," Tony said perceptively.

"I was trying to look older, so strangers will take me seriously at work," Spencer replied blushing.

"I can see why you did that when you started but surely we can find a way for you to look old enough to be respected and yet still wear clothes that look a bit more fashionable and attractive," Tony replied thoughtfully.

"More shopping!" Spencer groaned.

"It won't be so bad this time. I promise to listen to how you feel about the clothes you're trying on," Tony cajoled.

Spencer groaned again but agreed to go shopping with Tony again the next time they both had the day off.

Spencer found the second shopping much more enjoyable. Tony still vetoed the clothes he thought looked too much like Spencer's current wardrobe but steered him towards well-fitting trousers and long sleeve shirts in flattering colours. Clothes Spencer could feel comfortable and confident in, both at work and in his social life.

The clothes did their job professionally, Spencer found that the local LEO's, victim's friends and family and potential witnesses were listening to him more attentively and not looking to one of the others for a second opinion unless he started to ramble too much. The extra confidence it gave him made him ramble out of nervousness less often. He still frequently got overexcited about sharing information and didn't always realise when his listeners lost interest but Tony was helping with that too by pointing out when he got too tied up with statistics and then mentioning what information about the subject he would be interested in learning.

-o0o-

Spencer's colleagues quickly noticed the improvements in Spencer's wardrobe. And how he was cutting himself off mid-ramble these days.

"I think our Pretty Boy has a lady friend?" Morgan teased.

"I don't have a girlfriend," Spencer replied rolling his eyes.

"Sure, you do" Morgan pressed. "New threads, new spring in your step? What else could it be?"

"I finally feel well again. I can breathe without effort for the first time in months, my knee pain is down to a dull ache unless I overdo it and I've enrolled in a new course which I'm really looking forward to," Spencer answered, avoiding mentioning his new home which he was extremely excited about moving into the next time they had a weekend off.

-o0o-

Morgan didn't believe him and ignoring Hotch's warning, convinced Garcia to snoop through his credit card records and then pull the security camera footage for the stores.

Garcia watched in shock as her Buttercream and the strange man that had come into the bullpen and made them aware of how much they'd let their youngest team mate down, laughed and teased each other. Several times the man got up in Reid's personal space, fixing his collar, tucking in his shirt, ruffling his hair. Surprisingly, Spencer didn't seem to mind, leaning into the touch and laughing at the man.

Feeling overprotective of her baby genius she quickly took a screen shot and started to run it through facial recognition.

It didn't take long for Garcia to get Tony's ID but it also set off alarms at NCIS and Tim and Abby quickly started trying to back hack Garcia's network. Garcia shut her network down just as Hotch rang for background information on the victims in their new case.

"Um Sir, that's going to take a while. If you don't mind terribly I could ask Kevin to do the searches for me," Garcia said hesitantly.

"What's going on Garcia?" Aaron demanded.

"Um I might have done a thing… and now I'm being back-hacked, I think it's coming from one of the other agencies," Garcia said nervously.

"Garcia!" Hotch said his eye twitching in irritation. "Tell me what you did."

"Um I ran facial recognition on someone and it turns out they're an NCIS agent. So then NCIS tried to get into my system to see who is looking at their agent," Garcia said.

"Did you get enough information before you were caught to know who we need to apologise to?" Hotch asked.

"Um yeah, he's Agent Anthony DiNozzo and he works here in DC," Garcia said.

"Get me the phone number for the NCIS Director," Hotch said sighing. "I don't know how much I can protect you from this?"

"What's going on?" Spencer asked.

Hotch rang the director and as soon as Spencer heard the name DiNozzo he pulled out his phone.

"DiNozzo!" Tony barked into the phone.

"Tony its Spencer. I think Garcia just hacked into your ID," Spencer said.

"What the hell Spence?" Tony said.

"Hotch is on the phone apologising to your director and mentioned your name. I suspect she's been spying on me and tried to use facial recognition to find out who I've been hanging out with," Spencer explained.

Tony burst out laughing. "Panic over Probie, it seems my friend's team is even more sticky-nosed than Abby," he said to someone in the room.

"Huh?" Tim said.

"The identity hack came from the BAU," Tony said. "They wanted to know who was hanging out with their genius."

"Please don't tell Abby that. I'll never be able to leave the house without a disguise again," Tim begged.

Tony laughed.

"You're not mad?" Spencer asked hopefully.

"Not at you, Spence," Tony reassured him. "I want to meet this Garcia though." Tony was actually glad Spencer's team cared enough to be checking up on who he spent time with, though he assumed that Spencer saw it as a sign of disrespect that they'd invade his privacy like that.

"No you don't, she's the woman with the cookies," Spencer retorted.

"Something you want to tell us Reid?" Hotch asked amused. The two had grown closer since they'd both been injured and he knew quite a lot about Reid's friendship with Tony, but he was aware the rest of the team were no longer in the genius's confidence.

"Special Agent Tony DiNozzo is a friend. I met him in rehab after I had Anthrax," Spencer said.

"And what does that have to do with Garcia hacking NCIS?" Hotch asked. "Did you ask her to investigate your friend?"

"No of course not, if I was going to have him investigated it would have been months ago before I let him pick me up from hospital and move me into his spare room so I didn't have to deal with three flights of stairs and the perpetually breaking down elevator in my building. Morgan thinks my new clothes mean I have a girlfriend. He didn't believe me when I denied it. I imagine Garcia was looking for her. I went clothes shopping with Tony so if she hacked my credit cards to find where we shopped and then the stores security footage she would have seen who I was with, then used facial recognition to find his name," Spencer explained what he thought had happened. "Problem is Tony isn't a librarian or college professor, he's an agent who does some undercover work and his identity is protected by his agency. We're in this mess because Morgan and Garcia can't keep their noses out of my personal life," he added bitterly.

"Reid's gay?" Emily exclaimed. "I don't believe it." She had caught him checking out women several times but never checking out a man.

"Neither do I," JJ replied. She like everyone else had been well aware of Reid's crush on her when he'd started at the BAU. JJ never returned the crush but she had been flattered and found it endearing.

"Let's face it, guys who are just friends don't go clothes shopping together," Morgan said, unwilling to think about his young colleague hiding something like that from them, but unable to come up with another explanation for the way Pretty Boy was acting.

"And Reid hates shopping. But look at him, he's enjoying himself," Garcia said. "They're so cute together."

"Any ideas who this guy is, and how Reid met him? We haven't had any cases with Naval or marine involvement," JJ asked.

"I don't know. Hotch actually threatened to fire me if I look into him further," Garcia said biting her lip. She was worried about Reid's new friend but still embarrassed at getting caught hacking, and Reid's reaction had actually been just as frightening as Hotch's.

"We could ask Reid?" JJ suggested.

"I don't think he'd tell us now. He's really angry at your lack of trust in him. And honestly, I can't blame him," Hotch said sternly, hiding the fact that he already knew quite a bit about Reid's friendship.

"Well I for one hope that man isn't gay and that Reid introduces us soon. He's seriously hot," Emily said watching the tape again.

Spencer heard her comment and frowned at all of them watching the footage of him at the clothing store. "He's not gay but I doubt he's going to want to meet any of you anytime soon, unless it's to give Garcia a piece of his mind," he said.

"Where'd you meet him?" Morgan asked.

"That's classified above your pay grade," Spencer declared, smugly. He'd laughed his ass off at the thought of telling them that since Tony had told him about saying that to Tim.

"What the hell does that mean?" Morgan shouted as Spencer walked away. He turned to Garcia.

"No more hacking or abusing Reid's privacy" Hotch said firmly before Garcia could say anything. "He means it when he told you their meeting is classified and you could end up in more trouble than I could get you out of. Reid regularly works for several agencies in addition to ours."

"You're probably going to have to do quite a bit of grovelling to be forgiven as it is," JJ said. "I love that boy but he can certainly hold a grudge."

"He's going to start another prank war over this," Morgan said groaning.

"Probably!" Emily said showing no sympathy. "I'd side with him if I thought he needed the help, but I'd like to stay clear of the blast zone if I can. He's barely forgiven me for not visiting him in the hospital."

"I'd like to know why he forgave you and not the rest of us," Garcia said.

"He's forgiven JJ as well," Emily said.

"I'm not so sure he has forgiven either of us, he's just more angry at you and Garcia at the moment. But if you want his forgiveness maybe you should apologise and offer to help him move," JJ suggested.

"He's finally moving back to his apartment?" Morgan asked.

"No he told Will and Henry that he's bought a condo," JJ replied. "And he really has applied to go back to school."

"Sounds like his life is changing. Do you think he's going to leave?" Emily asked.

"No but I think it's a good thing that he's finally making a life for himself outside the BAU," JJ said picking up her bag and leaving them to their thoughts.

-o0o-

A/N: There is no actual mention of Hotch's first day back at work also being Spencer's first day. And just because Garcia refused to let Reid have a cookie before Hotch arrived doesn't mean she didn't share them with the whole team once they were all present. It could have happened the way I wrote it but honestly I doubt it did.

A/N2: Thank you to Locket1, Reader Ethiriel, Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest, ShinyaDiey, julschristine975, amokima, Firesong23, DS2010, Guest, Rori Potter, Village-Mystic, leahk80, Malecwolf, Magda-666, Misako87, karasu02, chrysolyne, BabydollnherTeddybear2011, silverblade243, Looh99, tor200534, darkprincessofslytherin, holymanga, Ronnie3, YeuxEtoiles, millie345, XxXxJackBlackxXxX, Milliefluff, mich-shelly, The Fallen Angel 13, Warrior19, carrambar, mariaco, Jewlygem, NewSlove, Chisana22, MaryFortuna, Criminal Minds Queen, Niniell, DaemonWolfe, Chishio Ame, malu31, crazyNproud, loretta537, bookwyrm95, mrnobodie, WolfWinks, pococo, K.C.96, roosmanderijn, The Fallen Angel 13, cobra, Open-Minded ME, MTjericho, , Kbear1684, bridgetlynn, IntellectualBadass333, giderasia and Topasheart for your support.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

A/N: Words in **Bold** are direct quotes from the series.

-o0o-

Spencer moved into his new home once his knee was well enough to cope with the stairs. Tony had done an amazing job of organising the repair of the blood spatter. He'd had the floorboards re-sanded and polished and painted the walls a rich deep green, installing bookshelves in every room, as well as turning the largest bedroom into a library. Spencer's new California King bed was incredibly comfortable and fit nicely into the next largest bedroom and Tony had performed miracles, managing to provide the number of pillows Spencer would need for his lungs when he had a cold and decorate the room in tones of blue and Spencer's favourite purples while still giving it a masculine feel. With Spencer's enthusiastic permission, he had also bought Spencer a TV and media centre so some of their movie nights could happen at Spencer's instead of making him do all the commuting.

Spencer and Tony had had a housewarming party with pizza and a movie marathon. Spencer hadn't even thought about having a traditional housewarming dinner with his team. Spencer also enrolled in a new degree and started classes. Tony had been right his professors were so happy to have him it wouldn't matter is he only attended one class a month. He'd managed to get to about half the classes and had joined a couple of study groups, something he'd always avoided in the past. He found them a lot of fun and they found his contributions valuable enough that they were happy to catch him up on the classes he missed, though most of them were taped for him. He made some new friends and started socialising with them, going to concerts and public events.

He also made sure to spend time with Henry every week but often met with Henry and Will away from the house rather than visiting JJ. He and Henry spent time in every child friendly museum and playpark his knee could handle. After Haley's murder Jack and Hotch sometimes joined them. The two boys had remained close in spite of Jack's time away in witness protection and the age difference between them, and the two men found they had a lot in common once Hotch relaxed enough to let his inner geek out.

Professionally, things had settled down and Spencer was enjoying his work with the team. Spencer still didn't go out with the team socially, and kept relations quite formal between them, Hotch helped by making sure he shared with Reid on cases where individual rooms weren't available, and often paired him with local LEO's rather than the team. Then they went to Wyoming to investigate a series of seeming suicides. It had been a successful case, they'd caught the unsub and saved his son, no other children had died since they'd arrived. The mood on the jet was good, though something was clearly up with JJ who Hotch approached in the galley to offer support. Spencer was sitting opposite Emily and was beginning to relax around the rest of the team and not shut his emotions away and stopped restricting himself to purely professional interactions.

He asked Emily about the wooden puzzle she was playing with.

Emily answered by telling him a story about the puzzle.

Spencer was more interested in the puzzle than the story but he still felt obligated to point out that it didn't make sense. He corrected Emily without thinking about it when she called it a fable.

Emily sounded irritated, as she called it a love story and how the star puzzle was a metaphor for the story. **"It's basically impossible to do because you need to take all of those pieces and fit them together exactly…"** Emily began, stopping when Spencer put the completed puzzle on the table.

" **There's a lot to hate about you, Dr Reid,"** Emily said

" **Play poker with him sometime,"** Rossi contributed looking up.

" **Try playing chess with him,"** Morgan teased.

" **Or Go,"** Garcia added.

Spencer looked down incredibly hurt by his team's thoughtless comments. Prior to getting shot he probably would have brushed them away as teasing but now they echoed in his mind reminding him that nobody had cared enough to visit him in the hospital. It seemed their tolerance for him was waning again.

Things with the team had seemed to be getting better and he had decided not to apply for the sabbatical leave cover on Garrett's team but the deadline wasn't until Friday maybe he should reconsider. He spent the night looking at the 'pros and cons' of taking the temporary position. He didn't call Tony until he'd made his decision because he already knew the older man would tell him to go for it but once the decision was made he called for moral support before going into Quantico to talk to Garrett and Hotch. He decided to talk to Garrett first, no point upsetting Hotch unless the position was still available and Garrett was willing to hire him.

He met with Garrett that morning, glad that they were both in town to speak in person. Garrett was thrilled to have another experienced profiler on his team, the last thing he wanted was to have to hold the hand of a green agent while they freaked out over their first experience with the brutality some unsubs were capable of. And Reid who spoke half a dozen languages and read a dozen or so more would be a real asset. It would also be a relief to have a TAD who was not looking for a permanent spot on his team so Seger wouldn't need to worry about her position being stolen if she wanted a few extra months off. He agreed to the hiring immediately and they went to speak with the Assistant Director who already knew about Reid's issues with his current team and was happy to sign off on the secondment.

"Come and meet the team. I expect you know most of them," Garrett said as they left the AD's office.

"I do and I'll come by and meet with them later this morning. I need to go and tell Hotch, he deserves to hear it from me," Spencer said.

"You didn't tell him before approaching me?" Garrett said frowning.

"No, he knows the problems I've been having with the team and that I was thinking of leaving. I think he'll be glad that this is only temporary, it will give me the space to decide how to work things out with the team. The BAU is my calling, I'd hate to leave it but I do need a break that doesn't involve hospitals."

Garrett chuckled, "I hear you," he said. "Speaking of hospitals though we need to talk later about your medical conditions and what restrictions they impose in the field.

"Not many so long as you're not expecting me to kick down doors, I can't run very far or fast, but then I couldn't very well before I hurt my knee. I need to be careful of my lungs and infections so I'll carry a mask with me and put it on as 'I need it," Spencer replied.

"How do your lungs cope with altitudes?" Garrett asked.

"Not too bad," Spencer replied.

Garrett made a mental note to catch up with Hotch after Spencer had told him, and ask for a second opinion on that.

-o0o-

"Hotch, you got a minute?" Spencer asked awkwardly.

"Sure Reid, what's on your mind?" Hotch looked up from his paperwork and looked his youngest agent, intrateam profiling was forbidden but he had noticed the change in atmosphere in the jet when he came back from talking with JJ, the others all seemed fine, but Spencer seemed to be trying a little too hard to seem unaffected by something.

"I've decided to take a secondment to the IRT for six months while Seger is on sabbatical leave,"

Spencer stated nervously. "I start at the end of the month."

This was the make or break moment, for Spencer to move to the IRT for six months and then come back to the BAU he needed Hotch to sign off on the secondment. If Hotch didn't then he would have to choose between resigning from the BAU, taking the risk that there would be a position he was interested in when Seger returned from her Sabbatical or staying at the BAU when he felt the need to leave.

"You're sure you want to do this?" Hotch asked.

"I do, I need a break from this team to get my head on straight again. I approached Garrett about the job, Hotch, he didn't approach me," Spencer admitted. "I've tried to ignore what happened when I was injured and keep things professional but I've spent my whole life not belonging anywhere and I thought that here I'd finally found a place to belong and it hurts to be wrong. Being here with them reminds me of it constantly. I don't expect to fit in any better with Garrett's team, but it won't hurt me if I don't. And maybe six months with them can give me the breathing space I need to come to terms with what happened. If I stay it will just keep eating at me until I start hesitating to trust them to have my back in the field."

Hotch nodded in understanding. "I will miss you, not just your insights and knowledge, I will miss you as a person, as a friend and colleague," he said wanting to be sure there was no understanding.

"I'll only be a phone call away Hotch," Spencer replied. "And I will still be making an effort to take Henry out on my days off. You and Jack are still welcome to join when you can."

Hotch walked around his desk to hug his friend. "That goes both ways, Spencer. I can't promise to always be here at Quantico, but I will always be there for you if you need me."

Spencer relaxed into the hug, glad that his friend understood.

"Can I ask why now Spencer? I expected this when you first came back to work," Hotch asked.

"I couldn't have left you while we were hunting Foyet. I needed to know you'd be safe first," Spencer replied.

"So now he's dead and you've decided that I'm recovered and coping well enough not to need you?" Hotch asked dryly. He was grateful that Spencer hadn't left them in the lurch while he was reeling against the attack on his person or after Haley's death but wondered what had made the younger man believe Hotch was ready for him to leave now.

"Not exactly, yesterday on the jet and I made the mistake of criticizing Emily's story about the star puzzle and solving it for her. She didn't react well, and the others joined in the conversation and made me regret trying to open up to them again. I need time to re-establish a professional distance. Hopefully six months will get me to the point where every other conversation that isn't strictly work related won't open up old wounds anymore," Spencer replied.

Hotch sighed and nodded, he could see that Spencer needed the break or they would lose him altogether, he only hoped that in six months' time he'd be ready to come back and stay.

"Do you want to tell the team, or shall I?" he asked.

"I was kind of hoping to keep it quiet until I left," Spencer said beseechingly.

"And leave me holding the bag when you've gone without warning, like Gideon? You remember how that felt?" Hotch asked scoldingly.

"You're right. That's not fair to any of you. I'll tell them before I go, just not right away I don't want to deal with their reactions," Spencer admitted.

"Okay Spencer, so long as you tell them before you leave," Hotch said understandingly. "And for what it's worth, I'm proud of you for knowing what you need and having the courage to seek it out, I hope you find it."

"Thanks Hotch," Spencer said.

Jack has been talking about the aeronautics museum for weeks. Do you think you and Henry would enjoy meeting us there, next time we have a weekend off?" Aaron asked.

"I'm not sure he's really into planes and spaceships yet but if we include the ice-cream parlour afterwards I'm sure he'd enjoy spending time with Jack. I'll try to set it up with Will," Spencer said grinning.

"Still not talking to JJ? She wasn't part of what happened on the plane. You were starting to forgive her for what happened when you were shot, and she really could use your support at the moment, Don't blame her for the other's actions, or for not noticing that they'd upset you. I can't break her confidence but that case really shook her," Hotch said seriously.

"Okay I'll talk to JJ about borrowing Henry for the day," Spencer compromised, still not wanting to spend his day off with his former best friend.

-o0o-

" **You're not enjoying this, are you?"** Morgan asked incredulously as they were going through the boxes of paper Agent Russell Goldman had collected about the conman turned killer.

" **I like a good paper trail I find it meditative,"** Spencer replied without stopping his work.

" **Is it really that hard for you to be normal just one time?"** Morgan asked.

Luckily for Morgan, Hotch walked in with new information before the pissed off Spencer could respond. Even in this situation where his gifts saved the team hours and hours of time going through the paperwork themselves he was being picked on for them. On the other hand looking at this paper trail made him see that with his reading speed he could have a job in white collar crimes anytime he wanted it though it didn't really interest him. He tamped down on his reactions, reminding himself he only had another couple of weeks with this team.

-o0o-

"Can you get Garcia on Skype, I have an announcement to make," Spencer said as they climbed on the jet after his final case.

"Hello my superheroes, what can I do for you this afternoon. Please tell me you are coming home?" Garcia said chirpily.

"Yes Baby Girl, we are. Spencer has an announcement that he wanted you to hear at the same time as we do," Morgan said.

"An announcement about what?" Garcia asked speculatively.

"Hold your horses Woman, we're all waiting to hear what Pretty Boy has to say," Morgan flirted.

Hotch looked at them to stop chatting and listen.

"I have been seconded to the IRT to work on UC Garrett's team, replacing SSA Seger for the next six months. This is my last case, I start with them on Monday," Spencer announced.

"That's not fair? Hotch, can't you do anything?" JJ asked.

"There's no need for Hotch to intervene. I'm looking forward to it," Spencer said firmly.

"Why you?" Morgan asked.

"I speak seven languages and read nineteen. I will be an asset to their team and it seemed like a good experience," Spencer said rolling his eyes.

"I could do a thing and block the transfer," Garcia offered.

"No Garcia" Hotch ordered, "Leave it alone."

"I asked for the transfer Garcia," Spencer said.

"What! Why?" there was a general outcry.

Spencer looked down for a minute surprised at their reaction. Then he got angry. "Because it's easier to feel that you don't belong when you're among people you don't know very well than it is among people you used to think of as family. I'd rather work with strangers than work with people who pretend to care for me and then let me down when I need them most. I decided to take the secondment to give me time to decide what I want to do next. Whether I can come back and work with you all professionally without becoming emotionally involved again."

"We are your friends Reid?" Emily said.

"It didn't feel like it when I spent 14 days alone in traction waiting to find out if I was going to ever walk again," Spencer replied. "I couldn't leave the team until Foyet was caught and Hotch had Jack back and then I stayed until Hotch had settled into juggling running the team and being a single dad. I didn't want to cause him more trouble than I had to. Then this opportunity came up and it seemed like a godsend."

"You can't let him go like this Hotch!" Morgan said angrily.

"I can't keep him here while he wants to leave, I'm just grateful he's chosen a temporary secondment instead of resigning outright," Hotch replied. "And he's right about one thing, Garrett's whole team are really excited to have Spencer on their team, having someone who can pretty much learn the culture and half the language overnight whatever country they go to will be an incredible boon to their team. They respect his gifts and will make the most of his skills."

"But we need him, he belongs here with us?" Garcia said.

"Garcia, you knew he was in the hospital, why didn't you let the rest of the team know?" Hotch asked. He'd asked before but never received a straight answer.

"You were too sick to do anything about it and the rest of the team were busy looking for Foyet so it would be safe for Jack to come home," Garcia replied. "We needed to find Foyet so you'd all be safe."

"Yet you all had enough time to visit me regularly. And don't you think the rest of the team had the right to make their own decisions whether or not they had time to visit Reid?" Hotch asked sternly.

"Yes Sir," Garcia said miserably, as the others glared at her.

"You had no right to keep that information from any of us. If you had told them how badly he was injured then he may not be feeling the need to leave now," Hotch said sternly. "But the rest of you can't all just totally blame Garcia. Unlike me, Spencer did have access to his phone and a phone charger. Any of you could have called him at any time, the way I did as soon as I got my phone privileges back. All of you were aware he had been shot. Morgan and JJ, you actually saw him before the ambulance arrived. There was no excuse for not checking on him yourselves."

"He said he was fine and sent us to contact Emily and see what was happening with you," JJ protested.

"Even when he'd just been shot he was more worried about you. How were we to know he was seriously hurt?" Morgan said defensively.

"And you left him to worry about me. Why did none of you even call to tell him I was okay, in fact when JJ did ring Reid to complain about his efforts to protect her family she hung up on him when he asked how I was," Hotch retorted.

"I didn't know he'd been admitted to hospital, I was angry with him for not coming to see you" JJ protested.

"I wouldn't expect him too even if he had been discharged directly from the emergency room that day. To catch a taxi all the way across town and struggle in and out of a second hospital when he's just been shot. In fact, I was barely capable of it the day after I was released and I could walk perfectly well," Hotch retorted, exasperated at the flimsy excuses the team were giving him to try to ease their guilt. "I am grateful for the effort you put into finding Foyet, but the fact that Reid was alone suffering because of your need to help me makes me deeply uncomfortable." Hotch left them and walked back into his office locking the door and closing the blinds to indicate he didn't want to be disturbed unless they had a case.

-o0o-

"We need Reid," Emily lamented looking at the mess they'd made of the geographical profile.

"Reid isn't available, his team is in Israel," Hotch replied.

"He should be here with us," Morgan said angrily.

"He needed a break from the team to gain perspective and decide whether he could forgive you all," Hotch replied.

"He needs to get over it," Emily said.

The others all seemed to feel similarly and Hotch lost his temper with them.

"You all treated him as if he was a brain with no feelings instead of being a real person, as if when we finished work for the day you could switch him off and leave him behind unless you wanted him around. Spencer was incredibly hurt by your abandonment while he was in the hospital. And yes, abandonment is the only word I can use to describe it. Spencer thought of you all as his family. The knowledge that none of you cared about him enough to visit nearly broke him in ways I'm not sure can ever be repaired, and the fact that none of you considered in your attempts to protect me from Foyet making a second attack I was in hospital, that Spencer needed protection as well, might have got him killed if he didn't have a friend outside the bureau with the resources to protect him. He's tried to get over it and move on but he feels that he will be better able to do that starting again with a new team and keeping a professional distance right from the start," Hotch said.

"What can we do?" JJ asked. "She had thought she was repairing bridges with Spencer until he suddenly announced he was leaving.

"I don't know JJ, I'm not sure this is fixable. Congratulations people, you all know how hard it is to maintain friendships with the hours we work and the IRT isn't any better. Spencer doesn't plan to even try to make friends with his new team. He just thinks it will be easier to work with strangers he doesn't know rather than strangers who he used to think of as family," Hotch said angrily. He walked into his office shutting the door and the blinds to indicate he was not available to talk to any of them.

The rest of the team looked at each other sadly. They had no idea that Spencer had felt things were bad enough to consider leaving the team. They had teased him a lot like they teased each other, not realising that after what had happened when he was shot Reid took their continued teasing as a form of bullying.

A/N: Thank you to ahowell1993, Locket1, Reader Ethiriel, julschristine975, Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest, Cokeheller, Astrahan, Rori Potter, Village-Mystic, DS2010, leahk80, Criminal Minds Queen, save the sharks, Guest, DanniiGirl, CharlotteDaBookworm, catlover123456789, Unknown at Your Service, bmelv1, Cyril Asa Moriarty, Dream and Hope, lovekakashiobito, sugaraddict99, Selkiesprite, cecy cantu, Isabella-Rose Snape, denimleigha, Narcissa1, lunarlaura, Eliatrope223, starfish56, tooker86, cawcrazy, fanfanfiction, ShadowsInDreams, casszim, Malicia88, bellaedwardgurl, lucy62, Evelle13, Calgal48, Wilson1713, Starlitmagic, , Malicia88, SnowSkyLine, Artbee02, deckman1234, Hedwig Edwiges, stefanialilly, Silver Fox 22000 and calileane for your support.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Spencer found the work on his new team immensely rewarding and enjoyable. Being constantly immersed into different cultures was fascinating and meant that his lack of knowledge of American pop culture wasn't as noticeable. His new team wasn't about to make fun of his ability to learn languages and cultures. It had saved them from inadvertently giving offence on more than one occasion, and they found his ability to memorise maps or obscure places that were in languages they couldn't even read to be invaluable.

The team were friendly to Spencer from the start but he tried hard to hold himself aloof.

Hotch had shared with Garrett, the reason that Spencer felt the need to leave the BAU, even if it was hopefully only temporary. And Garrett had explained to the team on vague terms what had happened and why Spencer didn't want to build personal relationships with the rest of the team. He assured them that no matter how withdrawn he seemed to them they could trust him absolutely to do his very best in the field, and also shared with them the fact that Spencer's lungs had been damaged (though not how) and that he was vulnerable to infection and may have some difficulties in the thinner air and higher altitudes, or in severe pollution or high pollen environments. He pointed out what to look out for and the need to avoid being near Reid when they had even a mild cold. Garrett reassured the team that even on crutches after being shot Dr Reid had managed to pull his weight on his former team and that his former supervisor was disappointed to lose him and would be keen to have him back if and when he chose to return.

The team were shocked with what had happened with the BAU team. Like the BAU, the IRT spent a lot of time travelling and living together and they formed more of a family like relationship than mere work colleagues, and they couldn't begin to imagine treating any of their team like Spencer had been treated. They attempted to be understanding, remaining friendly while not taking offence when Reid tried to keep things distantly professional. They built up trust to have each other's backs in the field, and shared motel rooms when required and meals when they were away, and made him feel that he was invited to all team social events and would be welcome to hang out with any of them at any time. The team also showed an interest in his studies and supported him when he needed to duck out early to catch a class or study group, while they were in town.

Spencer tried to guard his heart from making close friendships in the team but the supportive environment relaxed his guard and this time his trust in his teammates wasn't betrayed. The team might chuckle at times at his personality quirks but it was always in a friendly manner and any teasing that occurred was gentle and good natured. The team respected his skills and thanked him for them, rewarding him when he learned new languages and skills specifically to benefit solving cases. In this new environment, Spencer started to thrive and build confidence again. He relaxed and stopped profiling his teammates looking for ulterior motives and hidden malice, and started accepting the genuine friendship the team offered.

-o0o-

Spencer was able to get past security into NCIS headquarters by showing his ID, even though he hadn't been expected. The guard rang up to warn Tony that he was coming and Tony grinned. He'd last heard from Spencer the night before telling him that he was on his way home from India and that his first case with Garret's team had gone well. He wasn't expecting him to visit the yard though, they had plans to meet for pizza and movies later that night provided Tony didn't catch a new case that day.

He looked up as a very confident and bohemian looking Spencer came out of the elevator. He was wearing the jeans he and Tony had compromised on, flatteringly slim fitting but still not too tight to be comfortable sitting down, hiking boots a long sleeve heavy cotton purple shirt and a purple satin vest and knit scarf all topped by an unstructured quilted silk patchwork jacket Tony hadn't seen before but seemed to suit him perfectly.

"Hey Tony!" Spencer said cheerfully.

"Hey Spence," Tony grinned. "I thought we were meeting up tonight?"

"We're on our way to Peru in a couple of hours," Spencer replied sighing. "Can you take an early lunch?"

"Please Boss," Tony said looking at Gibbs beseechingly.

"Oh go on with you. Be back in an hour," Gibbs agreed.

"Spence, I'd like you to meet my team. This is the famous Leroy Jethro Gibbs, my probie Tim McGee and Mossad liaison Ziva David."

"I don't want to meet any of you Frat Buddies DiNozzo," Ziva said disparagingly.

Tony went to answer but Spencer dragged him away. "Argue with her later. I'm starving, my stomach's still on Indian time."

"See ya Boss, Tim, can I bring you something back," Tony offered.

"Indian?" Tim asked.

"I was kind of hoping for some American food before I leave again," Spencer said.

"Take him to the Diner DiNozzo. I fancy a good old American Burger," Gibbs replied.

Spencer grinned at his understanding. "Thanks," he mouthed to the gruff older man.

"How come you let him go?" Ziva asked resentfully.

Uncharacteristically, Gibbs chose to explain his actions to his team for once. He'd been impressed by what little he'd seen of the young genius and had long respected him for the positive influence he had had on Tony's sense of self-worth and contentment levels, and the profiling skills Tony had picked up from the younger man. "Tony's reports are finished and filed, and I know how hard it can be to keep appointments with friends with our caseload and from what I hear, Reid's schedule is even worse. I know Tony has been worried about him. I didn't want him distracted for another couple of weeks until he arrived back in the country again."

"Where does he work?" Tim asked.

"He's a profiler, currently on the FBI International Response Team, though he also worked on the Behavioural Analysis Unit for years," Gibbs said.

"He's the genius Tony bangs on about?" Tim asked surprised.

"He doesn't look like a genius" Ziva commented.

"You mean he doesn't look like a geek Ziva, intelligence can't be determined by appearance," Tim corrected her.

"You can't tell me you expected him to look like that?" Ziva replied.

"I don't know what I expected him to look like but I knew he wouldn't look and act like a geek, otherwise he wouldn't be Tony's best friend," Tim said. "He's a little more colourful than I expected."

Gibbs barked with laughter, "I think he was a little more colourful than DiNozzo expected. He will blend right in in India and Peru but he's not dressed for Washington, that's for sure. Can you imagine him at Quantico among Fornell and the suit brigade?"

Tim laughed at the idea but Ziva frowned thoughtfully. "I do not think he would notice whether he fit in or not," she said.

"He'd notice," Tim replied. "From what I saw today I don't think he'd care, but he would notice. I don't think he ever did fit in with the suit brigade and he's given up trying."

-o0o-

"How is your new team?" Tony asked. He knew Spencer planned to try to keep an emotional distance between himself and the new team but he was hoping they'd be able to break through his barriers.

"They're all very welcoming still," Spencer replied. "Most of them are in relationships and more settled than the BAU. We had a team dinner and there were more children there than adults. It was really cool, like a big family dinner."

"So they're all highly motivated to get home and not spend their downtime making work for themselves," Tony said optimistically.

"They haven't been dumping extra files on my desk either," Spencer said grinning. "And if we're home and I'm finished my work, Garrett lets me go early on days I have class."

"Meet anyone interesting in class lately?" Tony asked smirking.

"Yeah maybe, but I'm about to ring and reschedule our first date for the second time," Spencer said negatively.

"If she can't understand your work hours she isn't the right woman for you anyway Spence," Tony reminded him.

"I wouldn't blame her if she didn't understand. We haven't spent enough time talking for her to understand my work yet," Spencer replied.

Tony nodded. "At least you're getting out and interacting, there'll be plenty of women interested now that you have the confidence to approach them and eventually the stars will all align and you'll have time to get to know the right woman," he said supportively.

Spencer nodded.

"Why are you heading to Peru?" Tony asked.

"Three twenty-one-year-old girls, college roommates on holiday before separating to start grad school, found dead of unknown causes" Spencer replied. "Smart girls, not known for being high risk takers. We're not entirely sure there's a case here for us but one of them is a daughter of a senator's aide."

"Are there any other girls missing? Or is this an isolated case?" Tony asked.

"If there were American's known to be missing we'd be halfway there by now," Spencer said dryly.

"What language do they speak in Peru?" Tony asked.

"Nearly 85% of the country speak Spanish as their first language and the majority of the rest are bilingual with Spanish. The area we are going has a high number of people who speak Quechua but there are several dialects," Spencer replied.

"And do you speak Quechua?" Tony asked.

"No and the languages library didn't have any materials to help me learn it either," Spencer replied frowning at the thought of not being able to learn something that might be useful.

"Is it important?" Tony asked.

"Impossible to say until we identify what's happened to the girls," Spencer said sighing.

Tony nodded in understanding. "You'll find out what happened Spence."

"Enough about me, how are you?" Spencer asked.

"Still single, haven't met anyone lately that I'm interested in for more than a night or two of fun," Tony said lightly, though the truth was that he did want to meet someone special.

"Maybe you should take some of your own advice," Spencer teased. "Nightclubs and bars are no place to meet women looking for something more than a hook up. You should take a course or sign up for a group where you will actually get the chance to have real conversations and get to know someone before asking them out. If I can be brave enough to do it I know you can."

"You might be right Spencer. Have you got any ideas what I should sign up for?" Tony admitted.

"Well you mentioned when we were choosing what I should do that you'd take a class on chick flicks, maybe broaden that to serious film though and take a course in cinema history or something related. Or join an alternative cinema group. Isn't there a campaign going to save the Avalon Theatre? You could get involved in that, it would be a worthwhile cause for you to get your teeth into, even if you don't meet anyone interesting," Spencer suggested enthusiastically.

Tony laughed, that's a lot of options for a spur of the moment suggestion," he said noncommittally.

"It wasn't spur of the moment," Spencer admitted. "You haven't really been happy with your current life of random hook ups for a while now."

"Okay, I will look into it so long as you promise to try to be positive when you call to cancel your date and explain exactly why you need to leave the country again so suddenly," Tony bargained. "Give her a chance to understand, Spence."

"Okay, but you better order your boss and Tim some food and get back before you're late," Spencer agreed.

Tony looked at his watch and then jumped up and ordered the food to go, mentioning that it was for Gibbs. The staff smiled sympathetically as they put a rush on the order and Tony and spencer hugged briefly before the older man headed back to work, food in hand.

-o0o-

"Thanks Tony," Tim said paying the senior agent for his meal.

"Your welcome Probie," Tony replied grinning, while he still teased and pranked the younger man, his treatment of him had improved markedly after getting to know Spencer and even more after his friend had been shot. Hearing how Spencer interpreted some of the remarks made to him by his team in the wake of that event had made him think twice about the way he spoke to his own team mates, and his relationship with Tim had improved.

Gibbs also reimbursed him for his lunch but Ziva just frowned at the vegetarian burger and fries he'd brought her.

"I have reservations at Trattoria Alberto and my dinner partner is on his way to Peru, you interested McGoo," Tony asked.

"Are you inviting me to dinner or offering your reservations?" Tim asked.

"Inviting you. I've been craving their chicken piccata for days," Tony replied. "I was looking forward to dinner with my geeky genius friend, I figured one geeky genius might be as good as another, and it's about time we became better friends."

"What's wrong, can't find a girl to take out tonight? Your infamous black book let you down?" Ziva asked.

Tim ducked his head and went back to work and Tony cursed internally that Ziva had cheapened his invitation. "I didn't even think of getting it out. I wanted an evening of friendly conversation, which Ziva is why I didn't invite you," he retorted.

"Back to work!" Gibbs barked, "Or you'll be here all night eating takeout while you rewrite your reports."

"Yes Boss" Tony said scurrying to his desk before Gibbs got up to head-slap him. He sat down and opened the report before he remembered he'd finished it and given it to Gibbs just before Spencer had arrived. Checking his email and catching up on his expenses claims, he spent the afternoon praying that they didn't catch a new case and finished on time, ready to power down his computer as soon as the boss gave the word.

"DiNozzo, McGee get out of here, Ziva fix this and then you can go" Gibbs said handing Ziva's report back to her again.

"Gibbs, I've done it twice," Ziva protested.

"Then do it right the third time so you don't have to do it a fourth," Gibbs replied cheerfully.

-o0o-

Tim nervously approached the restaurant, he still wasn't sure why Tony had invited him for dinner, sure his previous plans had just fallen through and he'd been much nicer to him lately but they still weren't friends away from work. He had to meet he would like to get to know Tony's friend Spencer, he'd researched him and read a lot of the articles he'd written both on the psychology of serial offenders as well as the older article on chemistry and mathematics though he had to admit a lot of it went over his head. The man was a true genius.

He made sure he wasn't early, the last thing he wanted to do was spend time sitting there worrying about whether Tony was going to turn up or if this was all just a horrible joke. Tony was there waiting for him and greeted him with a friendly smile. "Hey Tim, I thought we'd eat outside, it's such a nice night. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" Tim replied.

"Spence would have a problem with the amount of beetles in the air tonight," Tony said. "I didn't know if that was a phobia of yours too."

Tim looked at Tony suspiciously. "It's not" he said.

"Then let's grab a table," Tony said eagerly.

They sat and looked at the menu. "Why did you invite me?" Tim asked putting his aside.

"Spence had a lot of problems with his old team, some of it was probably just teasing taken too far but a few months ago he was shot in the line of duty and spent 14 days in traction waiting to find out whether he was going to be able to walk again. He thought of his team as family, pretty much his only family and yet none of them came to visit him. There were extenuating circumstances, they were being targeted by the Boston Reaper but Spencer was really hurt by their abandonment. It made me think of our team and what I could do to make things better. We've been team mates several years now and while I don't promise not to prank you I will make more of an effort to make sure the pranks are funny, not hurtful or humiliating. I want to get to know you better, to build up our friendship. Make a fresh start," Tony explained. "We might not have much in common but I never thought Spencer and I could be friends when I first met him and he's become one of the best parts of the last year."

"You never did tell us how you got to know Spencer" Tim said.

"I wasn't just teasing when I said it was classified. I met him in rehab for my lungs, but I can't tell you why he was there. Like I said we didn't have much in common, he seemed to be such a kid and way too smart for his own good. But he was in the same situation as me, he understood the fear of not being able to breathe and the worry about not recovering enough to live a useful life let alone return to the field. We bonded over that and I thought that maybe if I gave you a chance we could bond over the hassles of working with Gibbs, or the cases or something."

Tim nodded, "I didn't realise how hard that was for you. You were busy teasing Kate and you just seemed so indestructible" he said.

"I didn't expect you to care, we were still pretty much strangers and I'd been hazing you too hard. I see that now. What Kate did lying to stay in that containment with me was beyond anything I could have expected, but once I was out of danger I didn't see her again until I came back to work. 

"Tony, none of us realised that your recovery was so difficult. I thought you were just waiting for clearance, not that you had to work for it or that you might not have recovered at all," Tim said, ashamed of his short sightedness. "We should have known, and supported you better. I'm sorry."

"And then we lost Kate and we were all hurting," Tony said.

"I really miss her" Tim said. "I know you guys were closer but she was nice to me. I trusted her."

"You seem to be getting on well with Ziva?" Tony said.

"I'm trying to be friendly but there's something about the way she treats us I'm not so sure about. I'm not sure whether it's just that she never had team mates she could trust before and is waiting for us to stab her in the back or she is spying for Mossad or something. I wish I knew why Gibbs trusts her so much, is it just because the director does. She and Gibbs have some kind of history."

"Ziva and Bossman?" Tony asked shocked.

"No Director Sheppard and Gibbs, and Director Sheppard an Ziva too for that matter but I don't know what," Tim said.

"How do you know that Probie?"

"They acted strangely so I hacked Gibbs personnel files and he and Ducky worked with the Director in France years ago. Of course, it could just be that she's a redhead," Tim said.

Tony laughed. "You hacked into the files to find out more about the director?" he asked unsure whether to be impressed or worried about the consequences.

"Not into the Director's file, the security on that is sure to be too good for me to get away with that, but Gibbs wouldn't have upgraded the security on his file and I bet he never checks to see if it's been hacked," Tim replied.

"I doubt he'd know how to check" Tony replied laughing. "You've got balls, I take it you didn't try to hack Ziva?"

"She's Mossad, if I got caught hacking her it could create an international incident," Tim said shaking his head. "No way DiNozzo."

"I'm not asking you to hack her, you're probably right. Was there anything in Gibbs' file that indicates they may have met before we all met her?" Tony asked.

"No but there's something fishy about the report of Ari's shooting," Tim said thoughtfully.

"I can take a look at it for you, see if I can put my finger on what smells," Tony offered.

"I'll print out a copy of it for you tonight," Tim said.

"You're going back to the Navy Yard?" Tony asked shocked.

"No, I wouldn't keep something like that on my computer, it's on a thumb drive hidden in my apartment," Tim explained.

"Is it safe there?" Tony asked.

Tim looked taken aback, "I know it's an official report and I'm not supposed to have a copy but it isn't an open case, nobody's going to come looking for it. I don't even think anyone knows I have it," he said slowly. "I just hid the thumb drive out of routine caution."

"Well that depends on what is fishy about Gibbs report of Ari's shooting, there would be plenty of people who'd love to get their hands on proof Gibbs did something wrong," Tony said.

"I think it's safe enough, nobody knows I have it and it's with a whole lot of other computer components and stuff. Is that safe enough? What else should I do with it?" Tim asked.

"You shouldn't keep it at all" Tony said. "I'll come see it tonight and then you can wipe it, unless we think we need the proof and if so maybe we shouldn't keep it on either of our places. Do you have a friend who would hide it for you without looking at it?"

"Not one I could guarantee wouldn't look" Tim said frowning.

"I could ask Spencer to keep it when he gets back," Tony said. "I'd have to tell him what's on it and why we looked up the information but he understands secrecy and need-to-know better than most."

"Are we making a mountain out of a mole hill?" Tim asked suddenly.

"I don't know McHack, you're the one who hacked the files and kept the results. You must have had a reason," Tony said.

Tim flushed a little at the name.

"I don't mean anything nasty with the nickname McGee but I'll try to stop if it really bothers you," Tony said.

"No nicknames like that don't bother me but the mean-spirited ones do," Tim said deciding to be honest.

Tony nodded, "I apologise" he said sincerely. "I'll try to think twice when I come up with a new one."

"Do you want to go now, we could ask for our meals to go" Tim asked.

"No let's agree not talk about it here and enjoy our meals, we eat far too many meals reheated or eaten hurriedly over our desks. This isn't urgent enough to ruin our dinner," Tony declared, Tim couldn't help but agree, there were so many nights they worked so late he ended up grabbing something at a drive through on the way home or eating cereal for dinner. He smiled as the waitress arrived with their food thanking her politely.

They enjoyed their meals talking of music, movies (of course) and literature.

"This place reminds me a bit of Spencer's old flat, without the technical gear of course and more books, lots more books" Tony said, looking around Tim's tiny apartment.

"Where's he live?" Out near Quantico?" Tim asked.

"No he lives in DC near union station. He had this dinky little studio apartment on the third floor of a building where the elevator was always breaking down. He stayed with me while he was in crutches after being shot and I helped him find a condo to buy. I could help you too if you wanted."

"Tony I couldn't afford a condo!" Tim replied.

"Are you sure, from the look of it you're living well under your means, so unless you have expenses I don't know about you must be saving."

"I'm sure, why did Spencer need your help anyway, other than being less mobile for a while?"

"I told him how I could afford a condo in Dupont Circle by buying a condo that had been a crime scene and he liked the idea. But his team don't often work in DC so I kept an eye out for him. He bought the condo on 4th Street NE where Rear Admiral Dawes and his wife were killed," Tony explained. "He got it and the flat below for $375,000."

"Wow! That was a sweet condo, even the apartment wasn't bad. Has he rented it out?" Tim said whistling.

"Yeah to a navy lieutenant commander on the Regan, who spends as much of his shore leave as possible in Baltimore visiting his boyfriend the navy doesn't know about. The rent pays the mortgage and Spence gives him a discount on it when he's at sea. They both chip in for the security, since they're both away on an irregular schedule.

"Could you help find me a place, I don't have anywhere near that much to spend though?" Tim asked.

"Well you can keep an eye out yourself if you see a place you like in a crime scene not on base, or I'm sure you could use your computer skills to look for scenes worked by the DCPD. The more press coverage the case or the scene gets the more impact it will have on the price, particularly if the place is damaged and the owner wants to sell quickly and get out of the area rather than repair the place before he puts it on the market."

Tim opened up Gibbs' report from the night he shot Ari in his basement and Tony read through it, he then opened up the autopsy report showing him the photographs of the bullet wounds. Either, Ari turned his head to look at something behind him, or was shot from the side. Either way Gibbs couldn't have claimed to be in imminent danger, Ari wasn't facing him let alone trying to shoot him," Tim said.

Gibbs would never have shot Ari like that" Tony defended their boss.

"I don't want to believe it either, but what else could have happened? There was no one else there," Tim replied unhappily.

"What if there was?" Tony asked. "From the description of the standoff and the bloodstains on the floor we have Ari trying to turn his head to look at the stairs. Why? Did he hear someone walking overhead? Did Gibbs shoot him to protect whoever was walking down the stairs?"

Tim examined the photo's more carefully, "Or did the third person shoot him to save Gibbs? He was shot with a 22 and while I know Gibbs has one as his backup piece why would he be using it at home?"

"A 22 doesn't penetrate the skull to leave an exit wound and doesn't damage the wall behind the victim. There's no real way to tell which angle the shot came from," Tony agreed. "We have only Boss' word."

"Which doesn't quite fit with the crime scene photos and evidence," Tim said slowly.

"Why would he lie?" Tony asked.

"To protect someone," Tim said. "It's the only reason that makes sense, he wouldn't lie to protect himself, I'm sure of it. But who?"

Tony thought hard for a moment, "Ziva?" he exclaimed.

Tim frowned.

"No think about it, Ziva's not an American, and neither was Ari. They were both still officially government agents for Israel. So, if Ziva shot him she'd be extradited to Israel, who may or may not believe that he was a traitor. Her life might be in danger," Tony explained.

"So if she shot Ari to save Gibbs, he'd lie about it to return the favour. And that would be why he trusts her all of a sudden. She saved his life" Tim concluded. That makes sense, it would have to be something huge to make Gibbs lie about it."

"Yes but does that mean we should trust her?" Tony asked.

"To have Gibbs back in the field, Yes! To not try to pass on classified information to Israel? I don't know," Tim replied. "We still don't know why the director trusts her."

"And we're probably not going to be able to find out without you risking your career" Tony warned his subordinate. "It isn't worth it Tim."

"For a risk of national security? Really?" Tim said.

"Let me try some of my contacts and see if we can get the information without putting you at risk" Tony said.

"You have contacts who could get this information?" Tim asked surprised, until recently Tony had always denigrated Tim's computer skills as being unimportant.

"Spencer does, and this is for national security, she was Mossad and her brother became a terrorist, it's not like I'm asking him to background check a date," Tony replied. "I think the thumb drive is safe enough in that mess for now."

"What do we do about Ziva?" Tim asked.

"Same as we have been, try to keep our heads down and avoid Gibbs ire. Be friendly enough not to raise her suspicions. Trust her in the field and pray we don't get any cases with sensitive information we don't want Mossad to gain access to," Tony said. "I'll have a quiet word with Balboa try to make sure that he tries to pick up the classified cases."

"Wont he go to the director?" Tim asked.

"I'll explain everything and hope he agrees to keep it quiet," Tony said.

A/N: Thank you to ahowell1993, save the sharks, Guest, Guest, Guest, Criminal Minds Queen, DS2010, Guest, Locket1, Rori Potter, Reader Ethiriel, julschristine975, Hedwig Edwiges, Astrahan, Guest, XxXxJackBlackxXxX, knuckles 8, Village-Mystic, Megan1339, tlcroft, tlyxor1, 1bibliophile, TellaBells, Btwitsaimee, MonkeyBootCamp, Shadowmaster14, rhiannonlaing69, kessM, lotje01, ZoeW2000, AndDeathShallHaveNoDominion, GordonTM, TomB2201, angeleyes24245, klinde6364, Buttercup333, matechan, blackprincess2466, Caethel, InlovewithMalfoy, VWRock21, Not A Muggle, lillysmj, ChocolateRedVelvet, giderasia, atlantis11, Lady Rosencrantz, hetero-bi, sydneymarsh, totallypakaha, Chaosgod7, siameselover, The Queen's Fabler, EsmeCullen2398, alexdcl, Rydrian Gunn the Journeyman, Arishaa, viki83, scubatrex **,** 1988, Naia, b5j2s1, book-zealot and kittenlore for your support.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Spencer frowned as Tony explained the information Tim had brought him. He'd been worried about Tony being forced to work with a former Mossad agent and the handler of the double agent that had targeted the team, and had already had Garcia run background on the woman.

"Garcia didn't find anything conclusive when I asked her to check David's background a couple of months ago, other than the fact she's not just a member of Mossad, she's the Mossad Director's daughter and there were unsubstantiated rumours that she was Kiddon and a couple of people could put her in the vicinity of some suspicious deaths of political figures who were working against Israeli interests. If that was the case then she could have killed Ari on her father's orders, not actually to save Gibbs' life. I'll ask Garrett if he can have Monty run her background again. He's got some international contacts so he might get more information," Spencer said.

"Thanks Spence I don't want to risk Tim or Abby running background checks on the NCIS computers in case they're being monitored, and he doesn't have the firewalls to do it safely on his home set-up," Tony said.

"If they trace it back to the FBI mainframe then they won't know who in the Bureau is running the background check, there's no reason for her to tie it back to you and me," Spencer reassured him. "I'm glad you and Tim are getting on better."

Tony smiled. "I am too. He's a decent guy. He'd love to meet you, the person who helped me get over my prejudices against geeks."

"I'll have you know I'm a nerd not a geek!" Spencer pretended to be insulted.

Tony threw a pillow at him and Spencer laughed.

"What about Abby, does she trust Ziva?" Spencer asked.

"She took a while to warm up to her, you know Abby from my stories, she doesn't like change or new people in her team. She and Ziva seem to be becoming friends. I don't want to let her in on this, she isn't capable of keeping her feelings to herself, if she suddenly stops trusting Ziva, Ziva will notice. So will Gibbs and the Director, I don't want to get her in trouble unless we have proof."

"She's a lot like Garcia, Garcia doesn't like change either but once she's accepted someone onto her team she's almost violently enthusiastic. She always wants what she thinks is best for everyone, but sometimes she can't see that her idea of what's best and reality don't coincide," Spencer said.

"They are a lot alike, Abby is more stubborn than Garcia, once she's got an idea into her head nobody can convince her she's wrong. But I can't imagine Abby not visiting you in hospital. She practically camps out in the waiting room whenever one of us is injured," Tony said.

"I never would have thought Garcia could do that either, I mean if I was dying and there was no hope of recovery I could see her having problems dealing with it. But just to decide that finding Foyet so that Haley and Jack could come home was worth leaving me all alone, made no sense," Spencer said miserably.

"She was afraid for more than Jack and Haley, Spence. The reaper had already gone after Morgan and Hotch and then you while you were in hospital, that left Emily and JJ who are her best friends and herself and you've said yourself she doesn't deal well with negative emotions. Terror is as negative as you can get," Tony said. If Spencer was right and Abby and Garcia were that much alike then her abandonment of Spencer in the hospital had to be driven by something huge.

"Yeah and I could have forgiven her if she'd come up and apologised and explained, but she didn't, she just brushed it aside as if it didn't matter and that hurt," Spencer reminded him. "But that's beside the point, we were talking about who you and Tim can trust to have your back if Ziva is a spy and finds out you've had her investigated."

"I think Gibbs will come around if we had proof, and he would protect us whether he agreed or not. Balboa seemed to agree with my concerns, actually he voiced a lot of them himself when I brought up the subject, and he mentioned that the other teams were also concerned. The two I can't predict are Abby and the Director. Abby's going to have a real problem with betrayal of trust and even if she is on our side might well be too irrational to help, and Ziva and the Director have a past history we know hardly anything about, I can't calculate the effects of that, the only other person who has an established relationship with Jenny Shepard is Gibbs and there's a lot of tension there. I wouldn't mind betting they had a romantic relationship that may not have ended well on both sides. I'm not sure how that will affect things."

Spencer sighed, what a mess. "It would help me to meet them all, think you can invite me along on team drinks or lunch or something? We've got a semi-guaranteed four day layover."

"Semi-guaranteed?" Tony asked amused.

"We won't be sent out for anything less than missing Americans or a credible terrorist threat," Spencer explained.

-o0o-

Tony had decided he wanted Spencer to meet Tim and Abby before meeting the rest of the team. Tim was easy to convince, eager to meet the genius again and discuss his profiling work. Abby was more difficult to convince but had agreed to come so long as he made her favourite chocolate dessert.

Spencer arrived early, confident in Tony's apartment after the months he'd spent living there before moving to his own condo, and willingly helped Tony finish preparing their meal. He was a little nervous meeting new people but that was limited by the knowledge that he was Tony's friend and the others were coming to be profiled for their trustworthiness and how they'd react if things went wrong.

Tim was next to arrive, eager to meet Spencer and they spent a moment geeking out together before Tony reminded them that there were things they wanted to discuss before Abby arrived because you could count on Abby always been the last to leave any party if she was having a good time.

"I've filled Spencer in about everything we discussed and he's glad to hide the thumb drive for us," Tony said.

"I'm going to hide it down the back of my couch, if you ever need to find it," Spencer said.

Tim frowned but Tony grinned, "That's brilliant, anyone looking for it wouldn't look there. The back of the couch is where unwanted lost objects collect."

"You're right, we only check the back of the couch if it's within a few feet of the crime scene, it isn't somewhere people hide things. Most people choose the freezer or the toilet," Tim agreed, realising the true genius of the hiding place.

"Or inside the vents or those old-fashioned air conditioners," Tony said. "Where else would you hide something?"

Spencer frowned thoughtfully looking around. "A hollowed out book is a bit obvious, taped to the bottom of the piano would be good if it doesn't alter the sound resonance, it would take a lot of work to get it in or out but for something small enough that you just want to keep as security and don't need to access, the best place would be in the base of the bookshelves."

"Have you found, noticed or thought of anything else I should know since you last had the chance to talk to Tony?" Spencer asked.

"No, Tony warned me off doing any more hacking," Tim said.

"And he's right much better that the hack come from another agency, what about Ziva's behaviour?" Spencer asked smiling gently at the probationary agent.

"She's still learning how to process a crime scene and how to speak to suspects, in fact almost all aspects of investigating a crime legally. She's a really poor replacement for Kate who was a trained profiler," Tim replied.

"Gideon trained Caitlin Todd, I pulled her records and she wasn't an investigator either, nor was she a great profiler, she barely passed the courses," Spencer said before noticing both NCIS agents frowning at him. "I'm sorry to speak ill of your friend, but she never saw through the act you were putting on."

"Yes, you're right, you noticed my playboy flirting was an act the first time we met, I worked with Kate for nearly three years," Tony had to admit. "And she wasn't an investigator, in fact Tim here had more knowledge of how to process a crime scene and investigate a crime when he started on the team than she did."

"She was a glorified bodyguard, there's a lot of prestige in protecting the president but other than being good at observing body language to assess who is a threat, and the ability to maintain your attention for hours on end, there isn't much investigating or profiling to it," Spencer said.

Tim nodded, "I never thought about it like that."

"They both should've been sent to FLETC to do the full course," Tony growled. "At least Kate was willing to admit what she didn't know and to learn new skills, she did a few courses in her own time."

"To be fair Ziva has been busy moving to America and getting everything set up. She might decide to do some courses once she settles in," Tim said. Spencer profiled him as wanting to believe the best of his team mate and realised it was hard on the junior agent to feel he couldn't trust his team.

"She might," Spencer agreed noncommittally.

"What can Tim and I do tonight to help you build a stronger profile?" Tony asked. He and Spencer had already discussed this but he wanted to let Tim feel more involved.

"Talk about the team. I not only need to know about Abby's personality, but how she sees and feels about each of the members of your team to know who she's likely to trust or to turn to if there's a conflict," Spencer replied. "Try not to make it too obvious, maybe talk about strange cases or funny stories, particularly stories that show one of the team in a bad light or lacking support from the others."

Abby knocked impatiently on the door and Tony hurried to let her in, he wanted Spencer to see his friend at her best. "Hey Abby, come on in and meet Spencer, spencer this is my friend and NCIS forensic scientist Abby Scuito, Abby my friend Dr Spencer Reid of the FBI international response team."

"Pleased to meet you" Spencer said not waving only because his hands were full.

"The FBI?" Abby said distrustfully.

"Don't hold that against him, I swear he's one of the good guys, he's my friend. I'd trust him with my life," Tony said hurriedly.

Tim smirked to see he wasn't the only one afraid of Abby's reactions.

"Where'd you meet Tony?" Abby asked.

"That's classified Abby, and I forbid you from trying to look it up. You could get in serious trouble," Tony interrupted hurriedly. "We've known each other for a long time now, and he's been totally trustworthy and a great source of new ways to look at evidence and potential leads."

"Tony is the best friend I've ever had," Spencer said quietly.

Abby stopped and actually looked at the tall skinny man, and had to admit she liked what she saw. The FBI agent was gorgeous, but more than that he looked friendly and honest. He was casually and comfortably dressed, with his sleeves rolled up to help Tony in the kitchen.

"Then if you're a friend of Tony's you're a friend of mine," Abby said smiling. "Can I help Tony?"

"Everything's done Abby, you could pour the wine," Tony said.

"None for me I'm on call," Spencer said.

"Sucks to be you," Tim said. He wasn't lying though he knew Spencer had. It made it clear that Spencer considered this dinner work. It must be difficult. He was a good friend to do this for Tony.

Dinner continued, Tony's charm and acting skills easily bringing up stories that highlighted incidents that had occurred with various members of the team without arousing Abby's suspicion.

"What's it like having a female director, our section chief is a woman and she's so desperately trying to prove she's as good and as tough as a male section chief would be that it makes it hard to work with. She keeps undermining Hotch because she hears he could take her job," Spencer asked.

"The Director has a few run ins with Gibbs, because she want him to do things more by the book," Tony said.

"There's a lot of tension between them," Tim added looking towards Abby to see if she could add an explanation.

"She doesn't listen enough," Abby said, hypocritically. "Gibbs explained to her

"So she listened to Gibbs but not to you, but Gibbs isn't your direct boss is he?" Spencer sounded confused.

"No he isn't, but he's my Gibbs!" Abby said.

"The labs work for all the teams and report straight to the director," Tim said.

"So Director Sheppard's your direct boss, why then did Gibbs have anything to do with your conditions?" Spencer asked. "Wouldn't that be like Tim asking you or one of the other team leads to intervene with Gibbs?"

"Tony laughed, "Gibbs would blow his stack," he said.

"Yeah" Tim agreed looking frightened at the very idea. "And rightly so if I went out of the chain of command."

Spencer began to feign yawning. "Can I crash in your guest room?" he asked Tony.

"Sure you know where everything is" Tony replied casually.

"Thanks Tony, night Tim, night Abby it was nice to meet you both," Spencer said getting up and making his way into the guest bedroom and bath.

"He's just making himself at home?" Abby asked astonished.

"He lived here for a couple of months when he couldn't get up the stairs to his old apartment," Tony explained.

Tim yawned too, "I better get going too, you coming Abs?" he said getting up and getting his coat.

Abby frowned but got up as well. They made their leave and Tim followed Abby until she'd sped off out of sight before turning around and going back to Tony's as arranged. He found Spencer in the kitchen with Tony enjoying the last glass of wine from the bottle.

"She will always side with Gibbs no matter what, he can do no wrong in her eyes, but I guess you knew that, she doesn't particularly like the Director and I don't think she truly likes Ziva that much either but she won't say or do anything against them while they have Gibbs support. You can't count on her," Spencer said bluntly.

"Wouldn't she do anything she could to protect Gibbs?" Tim asked.

"Probably anything except question his judgement?" Spencer said. "You might be able to get her to act to protect him directly if you had the proof of imminent harm but in this situation she would choose to believe he had it under control and may or may not tell him your suspicions."

Tony sighed and nodded. "I expected that. Did you get anything else from our conversation?"

"Nothing new, Abby has a borderline narcissistic personality, I don't mean a borderline personality and nor is she truly narcissistic but she doesn't see anybody's point of view but her own, Gibbs is the centre of her world though she has no romantic feelings for him. In fact, she might be aromantic," Spencer said thoughtfully.

Tim looked hurt but Tony nodded. "She plays at dating and relationships but as soon as it becomes anything but casual she's out."

"I'm sorry Tim but I really don't ever see a future for the two of you together," Spencer said quietly having noticed that the man had feelings for the forensic scientist.

"Tony told you?" Tim said resignedly.

"He didn't tell me anything except that the two of you were friends, I could see it in your behaviour and I could tell she can see it too. She doesn't reciprocate your feelings," Spencer said gently.

"You should go to class with Spencer, he's doing some post grad courses to meet women," Tony suggested.

"There's a post grad course on how to meet women?" Tim asked shocked about the fact there was and surprised that Tony's friend would need a course like that.

Spencer laughed. "No, I'm not comfortable in bars and clubs and places Tony goes to meet women so I come off as super geeky ads awkward which scares off people before I can even get to know if I might be interested. Tony suggested I should play to my strengths. The place I'm most comfortable is in classes at the university, so I picked a bunch of classes that I predicted most of the other students would be female. It's working well, I've made some new friends and been on a couple of dates that haven't ended up total disasters, and the classes themselves have been interesting. My mother was a professor of fifteenth century literature, specialising in romantic literature so I had the background to get into post grad courses in that area."

Tim laughed before a thought occurred to him. "My sister's studying literature at Waverley."

"I'm at Georgetown, closer to home," Spencer replied.

"How do you fit in classes with your work schedule?" Tim asked.

"My lecturers were warned of the problem ahead of time and are understanding when I miss class. I signed up for mostly late afternoon and evening classes, I figured that I want to meet someone who is also working who would be more likely to be tolerant of my schedule, and Garrett lets me choose my work hours around my classes and study groups when we're in town," Spencer replied.

"Tim goes to poetry readings and amateur writer's workshops and stuff," Tony said.

"My study group's been to a couple of those" Spencer said. "If I see you at one I'll call you over to join us. Or if you let me know which ones you're interested in I can steer my group in that direction if you would like," he offered diffidently handing over his card.

"Okay, hopefully I'll see you around sometime then," Tim said standing up to go.

"Spencer's coming out to drinks with the team next time I can round everyone up too," Tony reminded him.

"I'll look forward to seeing you," Spencer replied.

-o0o-

Tony's enthusiasm about a team night out was successful when backed by Tim's support and the fact they wrapped up a case late Friday morning in time to complete the reports and finish work on time for a change. The others agreed to meet at O'Malley's for drinks. Tony secretly texted Spencer and got a text back that he had arranged for his own new team to help him out by coming for early drinks. Garrett and the team had been briefed on what Spencer was trying to do, that is meet Tony's team casually without actually looking like he'd been invited. The team was happy with this too, happy to spend some time helping out and getting to know their newest member over a few drinks and then leaving early enough to meet their families for a meal out.

Tony and Tim walked in early wanting to be able to choose the table in a place Spencer would have to walk past as the team left. The place was crowded but Spencer and his team had spread out over two booths and quickly ceded the one nearest the door to Tony and Tim, introducing the pair to his team before they separated and pretended not to know each other.

Tony and Tim had settled at their table with their drinks when Abby arrived, followed by Gibbs and Ziva. Gibbs bought both of the girls a drink, as they came to greet the boys.

"This is a great idea!" Abby said enthusiastically, sipping the vodka and raspberry Gibbs had bought her.

"I agree. It is good to get to know my co-workers better," Ziva said smiling.

Gibbs just said back and watched the team talk, with a micro-smile on his face.

Tony had just got up to get everyone a second drink when Spencer's team started leaving. Spencer stopped to talk to Tony, eventually accompanying him to the bar and helping him carry the drinks.

"Everyone remembers my friend Spencer, Spence you haven't met Ducky and Jimmy, our medical examiner and his assistant," Tony said as he pulled Spencer in to join them.

"Pleased to meet you," Spencer said doing his awkward little wave, "Good to see you again Tim, Abby, Gibbs, Ziva. Tony talks about you all a lot."

"Your team couldn't stay?" Gibbs asked suspiciously.

"They want to get home and spend some time with their families, we're headed to Manilla as soon as the plane is ready. They've been using our enforced downtime to do the routine maintenance so we're due to fly out at midnight," Spencer said.

"Manilla, what's the problem this time?" Tony asked.

"Four dead American business men in the last six months found in the seedier side of Manilla's night life, not all that unusual but the signature suggests it could be serial," Spencer replied.

"There's a lot of crime in Manilla," Ziva said.

"Probably a lot more than is reported," Spencer agreed. "A lot of tourists go there for the sex trade and don't want to admit it, so they don't report rapes, thefts or assaults. But most of the murders in the Philippines are vigilantes or gang related. These victims have no ties to any of the gangs or cartels and as far as Monty has been able to ascertain their business was strictly legitimate. Their deaths don't fit, so we're going to check it out."

"How long will you be gone?" Abby asked.

"Until we solve the case or run out of leads and it goes cold." Spencer replied.

"Do you have to be invited like the BAU?" Tony asked.

"No but we work through the American embassy of the country we're in, so they have to approve our presence," Spencer replied. "Enough about me, Tony you haven't been able to hang out all week because you were busy working a case, I take it you're out celebrating a successful outcome?"

"Yeah we cracked it this morning. Arrested the lover and finished up the paperwork to close out the case in time to come out tonight," Tony said cheerfully.

"So in this case it wasn't the wife?" Spencer teased.

Tim and Ziva laughed, even Gibbs cracked a smile. "No but the mistress is always my second suspect," Tony said defensively.

"I wish cases were that easy," Spencer said.

"No you don't, you'd be bored to death hunting down socialite husband killers," Tony retorted. "Admit it you miss your psychopaths and serial killers."

"I miss the challenge, having to use all of my skills regularly," Spencer admitted.

"I forgot to ask, did your professor forgive you for standing her up twice?" Tony asked.

"Yeah she did, seems she'd heard about the missing girls in Peru. You wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you?" Spencer asked.

Tony tried to look innocent and stayed quiet hoping one of the others would ask another question to change the subject.

"Do you think the Americans killed in Manila could be the work of terrorists?" Ziva asked curiously.

"No, it's one individual, not a group and he's too invested in the kills themselves to be doing it for some yet to be declared cause," Spencer replied.

"Could it be a hit man?" Tim asked.

"It wouldn't be the first psychopath with a need to commit murder that's hired themselves out but I don't think so. He spends too much time with the body after death, he's not a professional, he's getting off on the kill," Spencer explained his thoughts.

"I can't believe there's a team that just hunts down serial killers, there can't be that many," Jimmy said.

"There are normally approximately 30 serial killers operating in the United States at any given time.

Some more prolific or attention grabbing than others," Spencer began.

"Stop Spence, these people want to be able to sleep at night," Tony interrupted.

"There can't be" Jimmy said faintly.

"Your definition of serial killer is likely influenced by the media, in reality anyone who commits murder on three separate occasions is considered serial, even those picking off a family, or jury, or platoon, or people he thinks caught him committing a crime. It doesn't matter the reason. And you can have serial killers who will never be caught because their ritual doesn't stand out or their method of disposing of the body looks like accidental deaths. It's not all Zodiac Killers and Reapers and Dahmer's," Spencer replied.

"I suddenly feel like I need better locks on my apartment," Jimmy said shuddering.

Spencer smiled gently and apologised, kind enough to refrain from telling him that if he was targeted by a serial killer, better locks would only help him if he was a victim of opportunity in a home invasion killing.

Gibbs wasn't a trained profiler but he was one hell of an investigator. He didn't say much during the evening but he quickly saw that Tony's friend was profiling each of them and once his suspicions were aroused it was easy to realise that their meeting tonight hadn't been by chance. He was also able to determine that whatever Dr Reid was up to Tony and Tim knew all about it. As the evening wore on he also determined that Ziva was on the receiving end of his most pointed looks and attempts to steer the conversation. Gibbs frowned, wondering if the FBI Agent had a reason not to trust NCIS's Mossad Liaison, or if the suspicions had originally come from DiNozzo and McGee."

A/N: Thank you to ahowell1993, Locket1, Rori Potter, knuckles 8, julschristine975, DS2010, ShinyaDiey, Reader Ethiriel, Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest, Criminal Minds Queen, leahk80, Village-Mystic, WolfGirl75, Greysh, serenityselena, just-another-crack-in-a-wall, CalliM, knuckles 8, Irene (Guest), kjede, Alysha123, Wild Rose 900, Decadence-21, Accuro, ans90jas10, Heroicagal, StarRocker4600, pastas, amdlara, JelloGirl323, sarina20188, Arwen507, TWLOHA26, Kardinal007, TheGoldenTrio16, darridle, breeze17, karen potter 97, samwies, musicart-life, mrs. phelps12, KIMMIRII, amfmhgs, XxIlannaxX, shflister, , djfrmchinchilla, Shiovaun, drasaki, Blyder, 1392, emzi251, Chisana22, fashionfreak94, Recca18, Keny972, Tasva, ashandriar, archant, READER51, dupond48, Silent-Liquid, criminalmindslovr, Mistress Saturn1, Challenge King, Megan2476, emerald23dragon, miriel29, hopeiskey, hesper glass, kitayalera, xyxyxy11, kurai bara, , book-zealot, Hope94, fortressofowls, mshipman1990, obsessedrdr, 1Ginger1, Yaoifan-gurl-forever, searanger, akrenbound, jerri bo berry, .969, darkbane848, bexi2010, 94685118984, caz80, InternetAddiction, megamom2, lonepixie, Birdie22, Ashika04, kat1972, Sincerely-ADedicatedFan, NieBie, Zoe9, the dragon and the rose, dwsdmk, .pandas, mountredoubt, nonangel, goku90504, knackpl, vamp2puppy, janelle Lawrence, KitKat05, Crowley'sDarling4eva, xxwingsxx, kunoichi, Irland Phoenix, mahive, Liesmithson, Sakya, SG-1agnus, Ithinkimgonnacry, SBo, CacTusLoVer27, Criminalmindsaddict16, gaylarain, Zila Kaelar, kaden292 and Muuwi for your support.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"I'll drive you to the plane," Tony offered his friend.

"Thanks Tony," Spencer said gratefully.

Gibbs eyes narrowed as Tim got up as well. "I'm going to head home too."

Tim had caught the bus in that morning and accepted a ride towards union station so he could take the train home.

"Well?" Tim asked as soon as they were in the car.

"Gibbs was on to us. He knew something was up with me being there," Spencer said. "I'm fairly sure he knew it was Ziva that I was interested in, and that the two of you were involved too, but he didn't step up to protect her from my profiling. I'm not sure whether he trusts her so implicitly that he's sure we won't find anything or he wants to know what her motivations are as much as we do. He's a hard man to read."

"And Abby?" Tim asked eagerly.

Spencer frowned knowing he was going to bring disappointment to his new friend. "Gibbs had most of her attention the entire time. She doesn't dislike Ziva or Jimmy she just doesn't really notice them on a personal level."

"Ducky and the autopsy gremlin?" Tony asked.

"Jimmy is nervous with all of you and he seems almost as scared of Ziva as he is of Gibbs, has she threatened him at some point?" Spencer asked.

"Not that I know of but he may have overheard her threatening to kill someone else with a paperclip, in they didn't stop annoying her," Tony said.

"Take her threat at least somewhat seriously, she is a killer. She isn't likely to harm you simply for harassing her but if she is still working for Mossad and she receives the order she would not hesitate to kill all of you. I very much doubt she killed Ari to save Gibbs life out of any affection for him. She was ordered to and I can only speculate why," Spencer warned.

"You think Boss knows that?" Tony asked anxiously.

"I'm not sure, he might have some suspicions but Gibbs isn't the sort to let suspicions lay, and he wouldn't have her on his team if he knew for certain. If it wasn't his own life that was saved he probably would have realised but being under fire does funny things to your perceptions of events," Spencer said. "He does trust Ziva though, and he must have a reason because he isn't the sort to form opinions on the orders of someone else, no matter who the director is to him he wouldn't trust Ziva just because she does."

"And Ducky, what did you think of him?" Tony asked.

"He partly reminds me of those characters in an Agatha Christie novel, that served in India and tell the most longwinded stories that everyone stops listening. But what people tend to forget is that those men were retired soldiers just as much as the regimented army type. He did serve in the army somehow, probably the medical corps, but he has seen action and he would recognise a soldier, or assassin. After all it was you who told me there's no such thing as an ex-marine. He is universally polite to everyone but I didn't discern any genuine affection for Ziva. He does feel genuine affection for everyone else on the team and is quite protective of you all. He thinks for himself, he wouldn't take Gibbs and the directors word for it that someone is trustworthy, and he's reserving judgement at present. I think you could trust him with your suspicions but he and Gibbs are closer to each other than to anyone else in the team."

"Jimmy's eager for you all to like him but it's Ducky's approval he values most. Unlike Abby he respects Gibbs rather than hero worships him, he is stronger than he seems under that shy awkward exterior, he would be capable of going against both Ducky and Gibbs if he feels they are in the wrong, but he'd need more than suspicions. He's also a terrible liar. I wouldn't include him in your suspicions at this time, he could not prevaricate and Ziva would instantly know he doesn't trust her," Spencer warned.

"Thanks for the ride, I'll see you in a week or two," Spencer said getting out.

"Thanks for the profiles," Tony replied.

"No problem I enjoyed it, it's good to have a better handle on the people you talk about when you're telling me about cases," Spencer said grinning.

"Were they like I described them?" Tony asked curiously, wanting to know that his intuitions of people were correct.

Spencer just smiled and left.

"Um… I think that might have been a no," Tim said hesitantly.

Tony chuckled ruefully, "Yeah!" he agreed.

"He's a good friend to do all this for you," Tim offered.

"He is, and he doesn't have many friends. He did mean it when he said he'd like you to come to a poetry reading with him and his new college friends. He wasn't just trying to set you up, he'd like to be your friend too," Tony said.

"His team seemed really close," Tim said.

"His new team, yeah they do but Spencer's only been with them a few weeks and he's still having trouble trusting them after what happened with his old team," Tony said. "I'm not going to break his confidence, but it's good to see him doing better."

-o0o-

"So how'd your sneak profiling go? Do they have a problem?" Jack Garrett asked as Spencer boarded the plane.

"Oh, I already knew they had a problem, they've got a Mossad liaison officer forced on their team inappropriately when they're the team that investigates terrorist threats involving the navy. What's more she's the Mossad Director David's daughter and her brother was recently revealed as a traitor, who killed the member of the team that Ziva is now replacing. He infiltrated Hamas and was either turned or was always planning to betray Israel. Ziva then shot him dead before he could be captured and questioned, supposedly to save Gibbs life but it could have been a setup," Spencer said worriedly.

"Sounds like a complete clusterfuck! What did Tony want your help with?" Matt asked.

"He wanted to know how the other members of the team felt about it and how they'd react if he asked them for help trying to prove she should not be trusted with sensitive information," Spencer replied. "She's been forced on the team by the director who apparently already knew her from before she was director, and Tony wants to know who'll support him if he makes a formal complaint to the Secretary of the Navy."

"Is he going to?" Garrett asked.

"He feels that Ziva David's a threat to naval security and he needs to report the problem, but Tim is the only person I could guarantee will support him and as you know support of a probationary agent isn't enough to go over the heads of two levels in the chain of command without serious consequences and he also wants to protect Tim and isn't sure which is the best way to go about it," Spencer said frowning. "He was hoping that I could find him someone else that would support him but from their profiles I couldn't pinpoint anyone."

"Is there anything we can do?" Monty asked.

"None of us have any clout with the Director of NCIS," Spencer said sighing.

"Do any of you have contacts that routinely work with Mossad who might be able to tell you more about Ziva?" Spencer asked. "I'm going to ask Garcia if she can look into her background a bit more, Tim's more than capable of doing it but Tony and I are worried how Ziva and his director would react if they catch him. I believe it's possible Ziva used to be Kidon."

"Ask around very quietly" Garrett ordered his team. "And Spencer, keep your eyes open and watch your back, if she's onto you then one more unexplained death in Manila would be far too easy to arrange. I'll have a word to our section chief that maybe someone ought to be keeping an eye on her and on NCIS's new director if she's making decisions like this and forcing them on her agents. If Ziva David's a threat to NCIS, she's a threat to national security."

"I also would like to know more about Director Shepherd, in particular why she trusts Ziva and why a man as resistant to change as Gibbs has accepted Ziva David on his team on nothing more than her say so. That's out of character from both what I've heard about him and what I saw tonight, and I feel the reason might be important," Spencer said thoughtfully.

-o0o-

"What the hell was last night about?" Gibbs asked Tony, cornering him in 'his office'.

"What do you mean. I thought it would be good for us all to have a night out and do some team bonding," Tony said. "It seemed to go quite well."

"And your profiler friend just happened to join us?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.

"You saw, he was out with his new team, and you have all wanted to meet him properly so it was a good opportunity to do that. He's on his way to Manila for god knows how long," Tony replied.

"Dr Reid was profiling all of us last night," Gibbs said.

"He does it to everyone, I expect it's a difficult skill to turn off," Tony offered.

"What are you up to Tony?" Gibbs demanded again.

"Are you really not at all concerned that the Mossad Director's daughter should have access to united states military and naval secrets?" Tony asked earnestly.

Gibbs face hardened. "I trust Ziva," he declared.

"Because she saved your life when she shot her brother. Have you considered she might have been acting on her father's orders that night. I'm sure Director David would not have wanted his son interrogated by the Americans for his actions. And her shooting him in front of you put Ziva into the position of trust with an American government agency, something that Director David had lost once we convinced the FBI that Ari wasn't infiltrating the Hamas cell to bring it down for them," Tony said laying his cards on the table. "Even if she is trustworthy, Ziva David has no investigative experience, and no knowledge of the American legal procedures we need to adhere to and little social skills in questioning without interrogating. She is a liability on the team even without the threat she poses to national security, and at the very least she needs to go to FLETC for training before being placed on an appropriate team as a probationary agent. To place her in a position of seniority over McGee is an insult to him. Tim's becoming a fine agent and he deserves more respect from you than that."

Gibbs growled. "She saved my life and her own life could be in danger of she goes back to Israel. Is it so wrong to want her kept safe."

"By all means keep her safe if you feel you need to, but do it somewhere she isn't going to have access to military secrets and intelligence. You of all people know how many of our cases involve sensitive information," Tony said angrily.

"Jen trusts her too DiNozzo and she's known her longer than we have," Gibbs said uncompromisingly.

"And that might have given me some reassurance if I had your history with the Director, but from where I'm sitting all I see is a new female Director trying hard to assert her authority over the agency and move a friend of hers into a position she can report back to her about the goings on at headquarters. She refuses to tell any of us why she trusts Ziva, and I think part of that is that she's feeling that she shouldn't have to explain herself to her agents because she's the Director. But she's wrong in this situation Gibbs, if she's wrong then Ziva is a risk not just to NCIS but naval and marine security worldwide," Tony tried to get Gibbs to see his point of view.

"Enough DiNozzo, back to work!" Gibbs ordered.

"Gibbs she's Kiddon, I don't trust her any further than I could pick her up and throw her, what's more I don't trust her to have my back in the field unless it fits in with her agenda and I don't trust her to have McGee's back either. You do remember exactly why we had a position empty for her to fill just as she wanted one? Her brother killed Kate!" Tony made one final attempt at getting Gibbs to at least question their new team mate's actions and motives.

This time Gibbs did slap him across the back of the head, in fact it was one of the hardest slaps he'd had in ages and Tony backed down and went back to his desk, shaking his head slightly at Tim.

-o0o-

"He wouldn't listen at all?" Tim asked dismayed as they went out to reinterview a witness.

"I even brought up Kate and how suspicious it was that Ziva's brother shot the person holding the position she wanted, and he shut me down," Tony said. "We are on our own in this one Tim."

"I have your back Tony, and Spencer does too," Tim reminded his SFA who was rapidly also becoming his friend.

"Thanks Tim but I want you to keep your head down, whatever you do don't make Ziva think that you could be her enemy or a threat to her job at NCIS," Tony said seriously.

-o0o-

Try as they might they couldn't find the proof that Ziva was actively acting against NCIS interests. Monty was able to dig up some buried intel about her history confirming that she had at one time worked as an assassin, though none of the targets he could attribute to her had been American. They also were able to get the details of her relationship with her brother and while unable to confirm whether the shooting in Gibbs basement was a set up, she had been under orders to take out her brother Ari before he could be caught and interrogated. It was standard practice for the assassination of any Mossad agent who went rogue to be carried out by their handler. A way of proving to the organisation that their duty was more important to them than any personal relationship they might have developed with the traitor. It was also standard practice for the handler to then be brought back to Israel and questioned extensively and watched carefully in case the rogue agent had not been working alone, which hadn't happened with Ziva because of the unique opportunity the NCIS director had given her.

Tony and Tim kept their heads down at work, working hard to try to teach Ziva the investigative techniques she should have known. She picked up the crime scene analysis well enough but Ziva still tended to threaten grievous bodily harm as an interrogation technique and missed a lot of the subtleties in the English language making her of little use in talking to suspects, or potential witnesses. There were a few more team bonding nights but Ziva tended to try to play one team member off against another excluding some in dinner parties or rumours.

"I'm sorry Tony, I had no idea she hadn't invited you," Tim said after one such night when the first thing Tony heard about the party was when everyone was raving about the food the next morning.

"That's okay, I caught up with Spence last night," Tony said grinning. "She's trying to split us up, make trouble between the two of us and between Gibbs and I, he was angry with me this morning when he spoke about dinner, and I have to think it was because he was told I was expected to go."

"Tim frowned, "Divide and conquer?" he asked. "What does she hope to achieve?"

"I don't know McFrowny. Maybe it's just a game to her," Tony replied.

"Should we let her think it's worked?" Tim asked.

Tony frowned. "Yeah, I need to be grumpy for the rest of the week, expect some pranking," he said. "Spence hates it when I prank people like that. I promised I'd stop."

"This is different, you're not pranking me exactly, you're using me to prank Ziva. Besides I intend to retaliate."

Tony laughed. "Bring it, McTrickster."

The next week at work Tim found frustrating, Tony had superglued his fingers to his keyboard again and played some other juvenile jokes while being harshly critical of everything Tim and Ziva did. Tony earned himself a few head-slaps for his behaviour, and some critical looks from Ducky, especially since neither Gibbs nor Ducky realised that Tony hadn't been invited to Ziva's dinner party, and was reacting to being left out.

Tim and Tony both caught a smug expression briefly cross Ziva's face when other people showed their frustration with Tony.

At the end of the week Tony showed up at Tim's with the younger agent's favourite takeaway and a bottle of white wine to make up for the harassment he'd dished out in order to allay Ziva's suspicions. Tim let him in and they cheerfully argued about what movie they wanted to watch, Tony stirring Tim when he realised they'd have to sit on the bed to watch.

"Were you serious about being ready to buy a condo?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I spoke to a reputable loan broker and did the sums, I could go as high as $370,000 without the mortgage payments being more than I'm paying in rent now and with a little economising could stretch that to $385,000 for the perfect property."

"Then it's time to start looking, we need a sensational crime, something with lots of media attention given to the house or condo and a street front unique enough to be recognisable," Tony said. "But not a drug bust, there's too much risk that the wrong people might think there's something left behind."

"I don't think you can order up a crime like that," Tim said laughing.

"Get looking McGoogle. There might not be anything today but despite the drop in crime rates in the last decade there are still about 125 murders a year in the DC area. One has to fit the bill eventually," Tony said optimistically.

Tim laughed, "Way to be positive about a truly horrifying murder rate, Tony" he joked. He sat at his computer and looked at all the local news sights and online papers but didn't find anything. Setting himself a reminder to recheck weekly he shut down and they moved into the bedroom to watch the movie Tony had chosen.

-o0o-

Spencer returned from Manilla and took himself to a meeting of the Beltway clean cops, not because he felt himself struggling with his sobriety but in the hope of having an unofficial word with his sponsor. In fact, he hadn't even been tempted since changing team in spite of the fact he'd found himself surrounded by drugs on several occasions.

He was in luck, John was present and invited him to catch up over coffee.

"How are you enjoying the IRT?" John asked.

"I love the team and the opportunities to learn about the ins and outs of different cultures first hand, but I can't help but feel my profiling gifts were used more effectively in the BAU," Spencer replied.

"And being away from your support group for so long? Is it causing you any problems with your cravings?"

"No actually, I did tell Garrett about my abduction and its aftereffects so no doubt he's keeping an eye out for problems. I haven't had any cravings since changing teams even when I was surrounded by the product in Manilla but I thought I should call in and remind myself of why I need to remain vigilant," Spencer answered smiling.

"Very sensible," John said approvingly. "I did hear rumours of you trying to run an unsanctioned investigation."

Spencer flushed, "You mean looking into Ziva David?" he asked.

"Yes, she's a dangerous woman Spencer," John warned.

"A dangerous woman whose motivations in joining NCIS are suspicious and who my best friend is forced to depend on to have his back in the field. Naturally I'm concerned. Her new position also gives her access to a large amount of top secret naval and marine intelligence," Spencer said.

"Spencer is this investigation backed by one of your other employers?" John asked. "While I believe your concerns are valid, the Bureau is not in a position to intervene."

Spencer took the hint. "I've not had time for much consulting work recently, but we have some down time. I will think the NSA might have some work waiting for me."

"That sounds like a fine idea, Spencer," John said approvingly.

-o0o-

Early next morning, Spencer called Garrett at home asking for a personal day.

"Of course Spencer, is there anything I can help with?" Jack Garrett asked concerned.

"No thanks Garrett I'm perfectly fine, I just received some advice about the problem I was concerned with before we left for Manilla and want some time to check in with some other sources. Sources which will likely be more agreeable if I can reciprocate somewhat."

"So, you're taking a personal day to offer your services elsewhere? No wonder you rang me at home," Jack asked amused.

"I was reminded that my current concerns fall better under the purview of some of the other agencies than they do the bureau," Spencer replied, deliberately vaguely.

"Well I wish you the best of luck and I'll see you Monday. Stay safe and don't take any unnecessary risks. Don't hesitate to call if I can do anything," Jack replied.

"I won't, my cell will be off but I'll text you a number I can be reached on. Have a good weekend," Spencer said before disconnecting.

-o0o-

Garrett ran into Hotch at the firing range, and they engaged in a friendly competition, which Hotch won.

"Loser buys the coffee," Jack offered.

"Philz?" Hotch asked.

"I see Dr Reid has corrupted you too," Jack said amused.

"How's he doing?" Hotch asked.

"He fits into my team very well and is beginning to open up a little. He actually asked for our help with an issue his friend is having," Jack said.

"His friend Tony's new team mate?" Hotch asked.

"He's asked for your help too? Were you the one who told him that it wasn't a bureau problem?"

"No, why?" Hotch asked frowning.

"He took a personal day to go out prostituting his services to one of his other employers in return for assistance," Garret said frowning.

"He regularly consults for the NSA and CIA, he might find more information from them. They might also have the power to intervene if they do find something. Don't worry too much, Reid's too bright to let them take advantage of him, he has clearly defined limits in what he is prepared to do for the CIA and he won't overstep them even for this situation," Hotch said. "He's been running circles around them for far longer than you'd expect."

Jack laughed, "I can picture that, it is easy to underestimate him. He constantly astounds me how he's able to manipulate our targets into giving up the information he needs."

Hotch laughed too, "I'd like to think Reid and I have become friends but sometimes I think even now we only see what he lets us see."

"He's been a real asset to my team, I would be willing to argue for an extra agent to be permanently allocated to my team if he wanted to stay at the end of Seger's sabbatical," Jack said.

"If that's what he wants then I'll approve the transfer, but to be honest we could really use him back. He is missed by all of us. He's made his peace with JJ and made an overture to Garcia," Hotch replied.

"You think he's working his way towards re-establishing a working relationship with each of your team before he returns to the BAU?" Jack asked. "I must admit we will all be disappointed to lose him."

"I'm hoping he is, for my sake at least. He does seem happier and less anxious lately so if he decides he wants to stay with your team I will be happy for him," Hotch replied.

"One perk of having him on my team temporarily is that I've become more popular than I've ever been before. Every time I'm in the office I have unit chiefs wanting to buy me lunch and pump me for information on how to entice Dr Reid into working for their departments. White Collar, Cryptography and Counter terrorism have been the most insistent but I even had lunch with Katie last week. Hell, I think some of them would sack their own brother or sister to make an opening for him," Jack said, only half joking.

Hotch laughed, "They didn't bother me with it so much recently, I didn't think anyone could ever imagine him wanting to leave the BAU. If he does come to you for advice, don't try to steer him towards Katie, I know he could do a lot of good there but he can't forget anything he sees. The images he'd have to deal with constantly in that unit would destroy him."

"There's a real downside to that brain of his, isn't there. I hadn't been aware of it until he'd been with us a couple of cases," Jack said sombrely.

"There is, I think it took a lot longer for us to realise it. And then longer to realise that Gideon was training the profiler in him but wasn't helping him on an emotional level, for all that the two of them seemed so close," Hotch said sighing. "He was so young and enthusiastic, determined to save the world one unsub at a time and Gideon made full use of it. Pushed him into being a better profiler quicker than anyone else could but I still wonder of it was worth the cost in spite of the number of extra people he has saved."

A/N: Thank you to knuckles 8, ahowell1993, Reader Ethiriel, Criminal Minds Queen, DS2010, Guest, Guest, mother oracle, Village-Mystic, leahk80, Rori Potter, serenityselena **,** Guest, tlcroft, eutopia23, Tholten, kega009, draggah7, kurai bara, Izabela75, IndiaLover, puzzlingnerd57, blackpearl123, Leif Campbell, lillypad101, Ambeth, Lily Van Lycan, Jenifael09, RogueGuardian, kedacat, lean238, Red Night Moon Sky, lilabet, Meiko47, SnowyOwl-17, Eclipse1977, Alexa-Ray, pekhet, djmonk, MadLAB, Peetato1989, LumeAzure, mle-austin, Nachtfrost Yuu and PasserbySir for your support.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

 **-o0o-**

Spencer started his day with a meeting with his handler at the NSA, he received the files they wanted him to review and then brought the discussion around to his concerns about the Mossad liaison at NCIS.

His handler listened while Spencer efficiently described his concerns along with the course of events that had led to the Israeli agent being hired.

"On in intra agency level they are going to find themselves in trouble if one of their cases gets a good enough defence lawyer to question Ziva's training and qualifications, but on a national security level there's no telling what her actual motives are. This one's above my pay grade Reid. I'll need to take it up the chain of command, thanks for alerting us to the problem," his handler said. "Are you going to be reachable for the next couple of days?"

"I'll be reachable on my cell, or via the emergency numbers I gave you a couple of months ago. I'm planning on staying here and working through this lot today, but you never know when and where an urgent case will come up. We're supposedly in the office for the rest of the week but it only takes a missing American child for us to be in the air on our way out of the country within the hour," Spencer replied already working on the files he'd been given.

"Well let's hope you won't be half way to heaven-only-knows where because I think the boss is going to want to talk to you in person. I hope you've got some proof to back up some of these suspicions," the handler said almost to himself.

"I have but I don't want to spread it out too far, it could get one of the people who collected it into some serious trouble with his Director if she manages to weather this," Spencer replied surprising him and handing over a pair of thumb drives. "The originals are in a very safe place, or I should say more than one very safe place."

-o0o-

Spencer had just about finished the files assigned to him and was beginning to think about going to get a late lunch (it was almost 1600 hours) when his handler returned looking shaken.

"Are you okay? Do you want to get out of here for a bit and get some lunch?" Spencer asked.

"No and you can't either, the director wants to talk with you ASAP. You've sure stirred up a hornet's nest kid. Heads are likely going to roll over this. Sixth floor room 605. Hustle Reid, I'll clean up in here and secure the files."

"I've finished all of them," Spencer replied leaving and walking quickly to the elevator. He was tempted to ring Tony but remembered that all calls leaving the NSA were intercepted and monitored and decided to try to keep his friends out of the line of fire as much as he could. He knocked on the door and entered as directed.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?"

"Dr Reid, welcome. We've reviewed the information and the flash drives you provided and before we go any further I need provenance for them. Where did you obtain the information they contain?"

"The purple one is a copy of information given to me by a couple of friends who work for NCIS at the Navy Yard. As you can hear on the audio recordings they attempted to take their concerns to both their team leader and to Director Shepherd and were ignored. Neither of these recorded conversations were their first attempt. Before you criticize them for breaching security in passing the information along to me be aware that I have previously had contact with one of them in my official capacity for both the FBI and a consult I did for Homeland security. They were both well aware of my security clearance before they gave me any information," Spencer said clearly.

"Relax Doctor Reid, we are grateful to hear about the situation before it blows up in our faces. We are definitely not looking to get your friends into trouble, you have provided proof enough that they attempted to follow the chain of command, before taking things further. Though they have been a little unorthodox in their method of getting the information to us we are prepared to overlook that and offer them immunity from the fallout this is going to cause,"

"The information came from SFA Anthony DiNozzo and Probationary Agent Timothy McGee, both of whom work on the MCRT at NCIS," Spencer said relieved. "The information on the green thumb drive is the searches the FBI technical analysists Penelope Garcia and Russ Montgomery collected at my request, attempting to confirm the issue before I took it further," Spencer said relaxing once he'd read through the immunity documents signed by the NSA director and the Director of Homeland security.

The director signed two more declarations of immunity.

"Thank you, Sir. My team mates went out on a limb to help me once I explained the situation. It's not exactly in the scope of the FBI but security breaches this big could hurt us all in more ways than anybody can predict. The Bureau often works cases in collaboration with NCIS," Spencer said.

"These declarations of immunity only cover you from prosecution for your actions up to and including today," the director warned. "You've done your job bringing this to our attention, trust us to investigate further and intervene if required," the director said firmly.

"Yes Sir, I'll pass your message along," Spencer agreed. Still looking concerned.

"What is it Reid?" The director asked.

"Agents DiNozzo and McGee are on the same team as David and Agent Gibbs, who you will hear dismissing their concerns. They have to depend on David to have their back in the field. If she finds out about the investigation she will suspect them of starting it. Their safety could be compromised, and they cant count on their team leader or their agency for backup in this situation," Spencer said.

"We will investigate very quietly then strike quickly as soon as we have proof. We must be careful that our proof will stand up in any court of law. We so not want to risk an international incident with an ally. But we will consider our informants safety as well,"

"Thank you Sir" Spencer said, this time recognising the dismissal.

-o0o-

"Hey Tony! I gave the information you and Tim gave me as well as the stuff Monty and Garcia dug up to my handler at the NSA and he took it to the director. They have given all of us immunity from any prosecution for the investigations we've done up until today. They want us to leave it to

them now but they told me they will act as soon as they have enough information to justify themselves if Ziva's father tries to create an international incident. They haven't promised to protect you but reading between the lines they will because they need you to testify," Spencer said hurriedly. "I didn't give them your names until after they offered immunity. Please don't be mad."

"Spence, you got the director of a federal agency to take our concerns seriously. Of course, I'm not mad! Thank you!"

"One of the AD's of the FBI was concerned too. I didn't show him the flash drives because he thought one of the other agencies I work for might be more able to get it to someone who is better able to take action," Spencer said.

"Spence, I can't thank you enough for sticking your neck out for this," Tony said sincerely.

"You're welcome. Everyone on my team agreed that having her on your team is an unacceptable risk. That's why they were so willing to help me dig into her background," Spencer said blushing a little.

"I can't tell you how relieved I will be once she's off the team. I'm tired of trying to watch my back and Tim's without making it obvious how much we don't trust her," Tony said. He sounded tired.

"Can you ring Tim and let him know? He needs to know that he will get in trouble if he does any more investigating or hacking after today," Spencer asked.

"I'll tell him Spencer, but he's more afraid of Ziva than he was of prosecution. He'll be relieved that someone who has the power to do something is finally listening."

-o0o-

The three men waited hopefully for the NSA or SecNav or somebody to come in and intervene with the director to have Ziva removed from the MCRT. Days passed without anything happening and at the end of the week Tony brought Tim over to Spencer's for dinner.

"Wow nice place," Tim said admiringly. The condo was lovely and very much Spencer, he'd filled the place with books and science fiction paraphernalia.

"Yeah Tony helped me find it and decorate" Spencer said.

"Yeah he's using his method to look for a place for me too. My budget isn't quite as large as yours though," Tim replied.

"You'd be surprised. I didn't pay anywhere near what this place was worth before the scene of the murder was plastered all over the news," Spencer said.

"Have there been any negatives in buying a murder scene, other than needing to redecorate and knowing someone died here?" Tim asked.

"Someone would have died in nearly all the houses in this area. Back when these houses were built most people died at home rather than in hospital," Spencer said.

"You know what I meant," Tim said.

"Nothing I wouldn't put up with to have such a great home without a huge mortgage. At first I used to get a lot of curious passers-by, crime scene tourists, but my security system needs to be top of the line because of my job anyway and after the guards took a few of them into custody the word got out and the attempted break-ins stopped. I need to wash the front windows more often than the neighbours do but the reflective coating stops people seeing inside," Spencer replied. "But Tony didn't bring you over to sell his condo finding skills."

"Nothing's happened with Ziva and Director Shepard," Tony said.

Spencer looked serious. "I don't know what else we can do. I still have the original thumb drives and a backup copy somewhere nobody will find them but my Director at the NSA emphasised that our immunity from prosecution depended on us staying out of it from this point on. I'm sorry Tony, I stuffed up. I've gagged us and nothing's going to be resolved."

"You didn't stuff up Spence! You did the best you could to warn the authorities that could do something, it isn't your fault they haven't acted yet," Tony said.

"Do you think they're still trying to get their ducks in a row before they act?" Tim asked.

Spencer sighed, disheartened. "No, I think they are going to hold it over your director's head to get concessions for NSA that NCIS wouldn't otherwise give them, or possibly use it as a lever against Mossad."

"Bloody politics" Tony cursed.

Spencer just nodded his agreement.

"So, we are back where we started?" Tim said.

"As long as Ziva doesn't find out about what we did," Tony said pessimistically.

Spencer poured them both a glass of brandy and pulled out his plethora of takeaway menus that he kept mostly for Tony's benefit. Spencer didn't need the paper reminders of where to purchase his preferred foods.

"Italian. I need comfort food," Tony decided.

"What about you Tim, what's your comfort food?" Spencer asked.

"We moved around so much when I was a kid that McDonald's became a comfort food to my parents. A familiar food no matter what country we were in and a way of reconnecting with home," Tim said. "I try to avoid it these days though."

Spencer nodded his understanding. "For me it is toasted cheese and baked beans. My Dad used to make it when Mom wasn't well enough to cook. It was the one time he wasn't pushing me to be someone I wasn't and Mom loved the smell of toasted cheese so it usually calmed her down. After he left it was one of the few meals I could make for myself, it reassured me that I could look after Mom and we wouldn't starve. It was only a couple of months before I learned to cook but toasted cheese was my fall-back when my cooking experiments failed or Mom was too distrustful of the dinner to eat it and it's still what I turn to when I'm stressed and I can keep cheese and bread in the freezer so it's one food I can guarantee I have access to whenever I need it."

Tim went to ask a question but then he saw Tony shaking his head emphatically behind Spencer and he spoke to prevent Tim speaking.

"So are we having Italian, McDonalds or toasted cheese tonight?" he asked.

"Italian or McDonalds" Spencer said denying that he needed his comfort meal tonight.

"Italian" Tim decided. "We all like Italian and will enjoy the meal. Besides McDonalds don't deliver and my days of spending an hour on a bus to get to a substandard burger are definitely over."

Spencer laughed.

-o0o-

Tim arrived at the Navy yard about forty minutes before the beginning of his shift. He liked to get in early and catch up on the searches he'd left running overnight, and he enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere before the bustle of the day. This morning though the bull pen was crowded with strangers taking apart all their computers.

"Um, I had a couple of searches running for a cold case I think I have a lead on. Can I print the results before you take my computer away?" he asked hesitantly.

"We'll need to watch what information you access," the guy in charge replied nodding and sending a tech over to watch him.

"That's fine. This guy targets navy dependents while their husbands are at sea. I don't want to let this go if I don't have to," Tim replied.

"That's a great search program, where'd you get it?" the tech asked.

"I wrote it. It's registered NCIS intellectual property," Tim replied, glad that he'd got in the habit of taking the ten minutes to fill out and file the registration forms every time he wrote a new program even though he was sure all these forms were just shoved in a folder somewhere in the legal departments computer system.

He sent the results he wanted to the printer and saved them under the file number on the main sever before sliding his chair away from the computer. "Do what you have to do. Can I ask what this is about?"

"Appreciate the co-operation, son," the guy in charge said, without answering the question.

"Where's Gibbs, he's usually here before me and I can't imagine a universe where he'd be quietly letting this happen?" Tim asked.

The team leader chuckled. "You know him well. He's on his way to our holding cells until we can establish how he was involved. He may be charged with resisting our investigation."

"Ziva's usually here by now too?" Tim added checking his watch.

This time the man did not respond.

Tim retreated from the area careful to stay in sight and Balboa seeing him standing there being ignored called him over to help with their case until his team arrived. Tim gratefully slid into Balboa's probie's desk where he managed to turn off the sound on his borrowed computer and prepared to covertly send a message to Tony and Spencer's phones while setting up search parameters as Balboa explained what he wanted to know.

"He can't get that information legally," the tech said.

"I have a warrant," Balboa said. "It's just quicker to get Tim to get the information than wait for the bank to get around to collating it all and sending it to us, tonight after close of business if we're lucky," He picked the warrant of his desk and held it out for the IA investigators to inspect.

"IA all over our team, Gibbs taken in for questioning. No sign yet of Ziva or Director" Tim sent.

Spencer replied, "Hopefully this is the NSA finally acting. Am in the office, if you need me don't hesitate to call,"

Tony replied a minute or two later. "In the car park on my way up. Where are you?"

"Sitting with Balboa's team, they've confiscated all our computers but they don't seem concerned that I'm using this one to help out Balboa's case," Tim replied.

"Then you're not the target," Spencer replied.

"Spence is right! I'm going to pretend not to see you until I find out whether I'm the target and then keep my distance in front of IA."

"I understand," Tim replied.

-o0o-

Balboa nodded approvingly at Tim when Tony entered the bullpen without his usual bounce and witty banter, not even glancing towards their side of the hideously orange room. Instead Tony calmly approached his own desk and politely asked what was going on.

"We need your computer for our investigation," the lead investigator said.

"Okay but can you tell me what you're investigating?" Tony asked politely.

"Need to know and at the moment you don't," the lead investigator replied. "Can you pull up all the cases your team has worked on in the last month?"

"Sure, can I get my probie to help do it?" Tony asked. Hoping to get a moment alone with Tim.

The investigator looked unsure, "I'd rather Miss David not be involved at this time," he replied.

Tony grinned. "She's not my probie, McGee is. Where is he anyway?" he said looking around.

"I'm here DiNozzo," Tim called.

"Balboa you stealing my probie again? I've got work for him to do."

"Relax! He's just borrowing the desk DiNozzo," Balboa replied.

"McGee can you pull all of the case files for the last month," Tony ordered.

"Sure do you want the hard copies or just the file numbers?" Tim asked.

"Both please Agent McGee," the IA investigator said. "Get them from archive yourself. Do not involve anyone else."

"Yes Sir," Tim did a quick search on the computer and printed off two copies of the list of files handing one to the investigator and taking the other downstairs with him.

-o0o-

Tim was tempted to stop by Abby's lab and Autopsy on his way to archives, but in the end decided he shouldn't. If Abby knew Gibbs had been taken away for questioning she would be in the middle of trying to plan a rescue mission, and she'd manipulate him into helping her. Besides he'd been told by IA not to involve anyone in collecting the files meaning that they did not want him to talk to anyone.

He collected a trolley and filled it with files, surprised by the amount of cases he and the team had got through in only 30 days. Glad that he wasn't asked for the evidence boxes as well he struggled to get the heavy trolley into the elevator and up to the bull pen. As he left the elevator Tony came over to help. "I don't think it's me they're investigating either," he whispered.

"Do you think they're after Ziva?" Tim whispered back.

"They might be, but remember they took Gibbs into custody," Tony said.

"He would've strenuously objected to anyone interfering with his team and their stuff" Tim reminded him. "They may not have come with the intention of arresting Gibbs."

"You're right. Keep your head down and follow protocol. Just because they don't seem interested in us doesn't mean they aren't keeping an eye on us. No hacking today Tim," Tony said. "Will they find evidence of your hacking on your computer?"

"They shouldn't. I erased it and scrubbed and defragmented the hard drive Monday night," Tim replied unconcerned.

Tony didn't understand the process but trusted Tim knew what he was talking about and he didn't need to worry.

Tim sent Balboa the financials he'd requested and went back to his papers.

"What's all this?" Tony asked.

"They let me print out last night's search results. I think I have a lead on this case," Tim said.

"Let's hear it McGoo!" Tony said, pulling up a chair.

Tim started explaining and soon they both had their heads down working the case.

"Is that a case Ms David was involved in?" the IA investigator asked.

"No it's a cold case from last year," Tim replied. "We haven't worked any cold cases from the time she joined the team yet."

"Good! Don't!" the investigator said. "They'll all have to be given to other agents to avoid her contamination."

"What about the solved cases?" Tony asked.

"A good lawyer could have any evidence she handled thrown out, so let's hope that most of these perps don't have a good lawyer or she didn't handle the crucial evidence," the IA investigator said sighing.

"She's been working crime scenes since the day she got here," Tony said groaning.

"That isn't going to be that much of an issue so long as she was under the supervision of either Agent Gibbs, Doctor Mallard or you DiNozzo. You all have the qualifications to supervise and train an untrained agent," the "IA investigator said.

"But we didn't treat her as an untrained agent, Gibbs refused to, so her evidence collection was only signed off by a second agent when Gibbs wasn't present," Tony said.

"You went against your Unit Chief's orders?" the IA agent asked. Tim and Tony couldn't tell whether he was censuring Tony or pleased that the man had had the courage of his convictions.

"If I was senior agent on a scene then I have the authority to run the scene the way I see fit," Tony declared. "I have never seen David's certifications to allow her to handle evidence independently. There's no point catching the perp if you let them get off by not following procedure."

He gestured another agent over. "Take DiNozzo down to the evidence lock up and have him go through the cases they've worked in the last few months and countersign any evidence collected by David while he was present. DiNozzo, we will be checking your movements at crime scenes so only sign off on the evidence you observed being collected."

"Sir?" the other agent questioned.

"DiNozzo tried to supervise David like an unqualified agent, he would have been keeping an eye on her evidence collection. When Gibbs was the senior agent on the scene DiNozzo couldn't ignore his orders and countersign the evidence as it was collected but you can bet that he had his eye out to make sure she was following procedure. So he would be able to certify that it was collected legally according to standard procedures. Can you imagine the chaos if all the cases the MCRT worked in the last four months were thrown out? Our investigation increases the probability of a lawyer trying that. Hopefully we can mitigate the damage save a few of them."

Tony headed down to the evidence locker and Tim messaged Spencer. "They're talking about ways to salvage the evidence Ziva worked on, this is definitely about her, no sign of the director yet either and I would have expected to see her supporting us by now."

-o0o-

Across town, Spencer let out a whoop of pleasure.

"Good news Spence?" Garrett asked.

"IA is all over NCIS asking about Ziva David and how she was supervised. Something's finally happening," Spencer said exuberantly.

"That must be a relief, but how are Tony's superiors going to react when they realise that he's behind this?" Garrett asked.

"Probably not well, but not to the point he's at risk from a 'friendly fire' incident" Spencer said using his fingers to make air quotation marks.

"You think it could've been that bad?"

"Tony's team mate Kate was killed by a sniper that turned out to be Ziva's brother working as a Hamas double agent. Ziva was his Mossad handler. Would you trust her to have you friend's back?" Spencer asked.

"No but you said she had the Director's support. Tony could've made some powerful enemies," Jack warned.

"Enemies that will threaten his career instead of his life," Monty said. "I think Spencer made the right call contacting IA. I never thought I'd say that!"

The team laughed.

"I didn't contact IA. I took the information we gathered to the NSA," Spencer replied. "They must have brought IA in though it's not the way I would've thought they'd handle it."

A/N: Thank you to ahowell1993, knuckles 8, Criminal Minds Queen, yoluc19, Reader Ethiriel, Calgal48, Guest, julschristine975, Rori Potter, DS2010, Village-Mystic, tlcroft, Firesong23, Guest, joniskpelare, Criminalmindsaddict16, leahk80, Beth9891, Cokeheller, jgood27, Brenna (Guest), fairy fifi, Nightingale's Voice, lys2fg, royalcloud12, pokiemon1, kalira100, bluesz, superbatgirl123, Yasmine Lupin, SilverMidnight61, spotfreeya, BlueCookiesCoke15, NyxxNoxx, Aspenleaf12, 82, Kyuunan, Harry' , symphonix81, kaijean81, Titatovenaares, RyderrRalph, Rhiannonwillows, kittykathunts, Jane Minhae Lee, odvie, nakua, LokiSpokFan, skaggy, nanabeth, SusieQ413, irishearthgirl, pinchio84, .961, devils daughter19, LittlePurpleWolf, Rabbit84, BrothersBestFriends, lovefanfic2326, Cuud17, iheartbeinganerd, Ri Granger Potter, PeacefulPandemonium, Raabe, BreGyrl23, Pegasi1, slowest, BrothersBestFriends, Sanae47, Scratched Surface, DiNozzo-Ncis, mollyismusical, yaoilovekassy, castal547, lil night raven, Danni Lea, blueoctober, AnonymousBooklover55, gaylarain, Alex Rider's Spygirl, lordmusquito, mackenzietwin, bookwormrdd, Copy-Nin's Daughter, dsend, Tardy-Typewriter, ShamieLove214, fictionfan95, Bookknightv, reader1writer1, Din7, becca579, laesin, basiln, ladysavay, Koru413, , lollypop1996, FanFictionAddict21, 311, Born-at-dawn, sharkissel, mdaws, crimzon-haze, Tiara Shin, saratella, angelpet3450, brighteyes343, Mar17 and blazesoccergirl713 for your support.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Tony and Tim worked on their cold case for the rest of the day. They had several witnesses they wanted to reinterview but were told to remain in the bullpen. They did as much as they could on the cold case before Tim moved over to help Balboa analyse the information coming out of the searches he did for him this morning, handing over the evidence they needed to make the arrest. Balboa's team weren't restricted to the yard and left to bring in their suspects while Tim and Tony moved onto the next cold case.

"Wow that one's ancient, do you really think you're going to get anywhere with it?" one of the IA guys asked.

Tim shrugged. "It's from before Ziva and Director Sheppard were involved, which is what you asked. Gibbs was on assignment in Russia at the time too, so there's no chance of contamination. Computer forensics have come a long way since the last time this file was looked at so it's worth another look," he said starting to run searches.

"Don't you need warrants for that?" another IA officer asked.

"We already have warrants for all of the suspects' financials in the file" Tim said. "The judge didn't time limit them. Even if we can't get them for this, if they got away with it once chances are they've tried it again. If it wasn't on the navy this time, then we'll hand the information over to the relevant authorities."

The two remaining members of the MCRT weren't even allowed to leave for lunch, luckily there was a local store which was prepared to deliver though Tony did complain about having to eat a relatively healthy lunch. They went back to work, not even willing to speculate why they still hadn't seen anything of the director. The deputy directors both arrived mid afternoon giving rise to some gossip when they walked through the bullpen and were accompanied upstairs by the IA workers.

"Did you see the director come in this morning?" Tony asked Balboa.

"No DiNozzo, and her office lights weren't on when I got here, and her car hasn't been here all day either," Balboa replied frowning. "She might have had meetings of course but a good director would've rescheduled her meetings to be here while IA are crawling all over the top team."

"I haven't heard from Abby all day either. I thought she'd be up here by now demanding to know why Gibbs hasn't been down to visit her," Tim said.

"Abby's not in her lab, there's a locum tech running things," Balboa said.

"Why would they go after Abby?" Tim said worried.

"They wouldn't, unless she tried to stop them from arresting Gibbs," Tony replied.

"She wasn't up here at the time but they took him out through the garage, so they may have come across her on the way," Balboa said thoughtfully.

"Are Ducky and Jimmy in autopsy?" Tony asked.

"I haven't been down there, my current case is theft not murder," Balboa said.

"It's business as usual in autopsy, Ducky and Jimmy came out to our crime scene and collected the bodies, they've got a lot of work to do," Carter said.

"Do you need DiNozzo and/or McGee?" Balboa asked. "They're stuck on cold cases until they find out what's happening to the rest of their team."

"For a triple homicide their team should have picked up anyway, you bet I could use their help, especially McGee's computer magic. So far, I have three bodies who don't seem to have any connection other than being found dead within 300 feet of each other," Carter said running his hands through his hair in a sign of stress. Tim and Tony got up and consulted with the team for a moment before going back to the spare desks to start their searches. They discussed the findings they had on each of their people not finding anything in common in their service histories or financial records.

"So far I can't find any evidence they were stationed at the same port let alone on the same ship," Tony said frustrated.

"Their cards weren't used in the same place in the last month," Tim said. "I'm going back further but Petty Officer Stanford seems to be either very frugal or more of a cash transaction guy. The only charges on his account in the last month are rent, utilities the gas station and the grocery store. Do we have their cars here to compare their GPS?"

"I hadn't thought of that. I'll try to locate them, they weren't found near the bodies," Carter said picking up the phone.

"Was it the crime scene or a body dump?" Tony asked.

"They were killed where they were found, though for the life of me I can't see what they were doing there," Carter replied. "It is possible they were abducted elsewhere and taken their by the killer to be killed."

"What's Tim doing?" Carter asked watching his hunched over his computer typing furiously. "He looks like he's got something."

"Writing code," Tony said after glancing at the screen. "He'll explain when he's finished, we wouldn't understand if he tried now."

Carter laughed.

"I've set up a search to find if there's anyone that worked with all of the three victims. It will probably need to run all night before we get results."

"There's a program that can do that?" Carter asked astonished.

"There is now," Tim said proudly. "I wrote a program a couple of months ago to compare two marines' history, I just had to extend it to work for the Navy and add a third set of data to compare. The program will take as many people as you want now."

"Will it work for the other services?" Carter asked. "Could you market it?"

"It would easily be adapted to work for the other services or any huge corporation in the private sector that moves their staff around a lot if they don't already have a program that does it. I'll look into it once it's been through patent registration," Tim replied.

"You're thinking they may have all served with their killer in the past?" Carter asked.

"It's a long shot but we don't have any other connections at the moment," Tim replied.

"They could have all dated the same woman," Tony said grinning lecherously.

"Yeah, and if you could find a way to find that out, I'm all ears," Carter said rolling his eyes.

"Ask his mates," Tony replied. "They'll know the down low. What are you searching for now probie, I thought you said we were out of leads."

"I'm searching the history of the crime scene, looking for a reason they might have all been there," Tim replied.

"It's a run down old park, barely used and in desperate need of refurbishment," Carter said.

"It's actually in danger of being rezoned for housing development," Tim said. "There is an application in with the city."

"An application that has more chance of being approved now there has been a mass homicide there," Carter said cynically. "When you're done with the current searches, check into the developer who made the application."

A few moments later he gave an exclamation. "There have been multiple arrests for indecent exposure in the last six months," he said. "All men."

"You saying that this was a hook-up place?" Tony asked.

"Looks like it might have been, I'll call the local Leo's for more information," Tim said.

He had a quiet conversation with the local police station and got given a couple of number of guys that had been on patrol in that area last night as well as the names of the officer's named in the most recent arrests.

Making a couple of other calls he then reported back.

"It seems the park has been used for a hook up place for a while now. The police have taken to patrolling through the park when they can but unfortunately they were busy last night with a couple of domestic incidents, and didn't get there," Tim reported.

"At least we can rule out dating the same woman," Carter said looking at Tony.

"Not really, with DADT they may all have dated women as a cover or they may have a male lover in common which if so, will be a lot harder to find because they're less likely to have spoken about it to their work colleagues," Tony said sighing.

Carter cursed.

-o0o-

Abby came up to the bullpen late afternoon intending to complain about the fact that none of her favourite team had been down to visit her lab today.

Tim and Tony managed to catch her before she accosted the IA agents.

"Stop right there, Abs" Tony ordered. "You don't want to piss off IA and draw their attention unnecessarily."

"What are they doing here? Where's Gibbs, he'll get rid of them. He'd be angry you weren't trying to stop them taking over your team's space," Abby hissed.

"He tried Abs, he's been taken into custody for trying to interfere with the investigation," Tony said.

"Where is he Tony" You can't leave him on his own. Do something!" Abby demanded stomping her foot.

"I don't know where he's being held, he was arrested before we got here this morning," Tony said.

"With IA it's best to just let things run their course, getting ourselves arrested for interfering with the investigation isn't going to help anyone, we can learn more by being here," Tim tried to reason with his ex-girlfriend to no avail.

"We have to go visit him. Show out support!" Abby exclaimed.

"Wait here and I'll ask of we are allowed to visit," Tony ordered.

"Why wouldn't we be allowed to visit? He has rights like everyone else," Abby demanded.

"He probably hasn't been charged. They can hold him 72 hours before they have to release him. So if he's in holding, he will be limited to his next of kin and his lawyer. And depending on what they're investigating here at NCIS, you could also be part of the investigation in which case you wouldn't be allowed to speak to him. Tony and I weren't allowed to leave the building today and we weren't allowed down to visit you, Ducky or Jimmy either," Tim tried to explain.

"They can't keep me here. I'll find out where they're keeping my silver fox," Abby declared stomping back to the elevator.

-o0o-

"I think we have a problem," Tim said when Tony returned. "Abby has gone to track down the Boss and she plans to go and demand to see him."

"Shit, I was just told that he's not available to talk to. Will she be able to find him?" Tony said.

"If he has his phone on," Tim replied.

"I better warn them," Tony said tiredly.

"No you go down and try to head Abby off, there's more chance that she'll listen to you than me, I'll talk to IA," Tim suggested.

"I just told your SFA that we don't want him talking to Gibbs, there's no way I'm going to let him send in his probationer," the IA boss said grumpily.

"I understand that, I came over to tell you that our technical analyst wants to see Gibbs and probably isn't going to take no for an answer. She is going to hunt down Gibbs, starting by tracking his cell phone and will arrive wherever you're holding him and will undoubtedly do something stupid like stage a sit in until she gets to see him," Tim said.

"What's their relationship?" IA asked.

"They aren't involved, of that's what you're asking. They seem to have more of a father/daughter thing going half the time. She idolises him, thinks he can do no wrong. She's his favourite, and anyone who upsets her is in big trouble with the boss even if it's her fault. I'd hate to see her get into trouble, she's not trying to deliberately impede the investigation, she just isn't thinking. Tony's gone down to the lab to try to talk her down but normally Gibbs is about the only person that can change her mind once she chooses a course of action," Tim said.

"I need to interview Ms Scuito. I will have a word with her," the IA chief said. "If she turns up and makes trouble after being warned, then she will be arrested."

Tim cringed, Gibbs would be sure to blame him and Tony for not protecting Abby. "May I ask if you're planning to charge Gibbs with anything?"

"Not at the moment, unfortunately, letting your wrong head make decisions for you isn't a crime and we can't prove anything worse than a determined attempt to remain oblivious to David's actions and intents," The IA chief said.

We think he believes she saved his life," Tim said. "She killed her brother in Gibbs basement while he was pointing his gun at Gibbs. Tony thinks they were both acting under orders and Ari was eliminated because he had outlived his usefulness and they didn't want to risk the US finding out what he knew. What I don't understand is why Gibbs didn't realise that too."

"So you don't think he was sexually involved or attracted to David?" IA asked.

"No I don't, he's shown no sign of it. He seems protective of her but it isn't sexual," Tim said.

Tony arrived back, "What isn't sexual?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"Gibbs relationship with Ziva," Tim told him.

"Of course not Ziva's not a redhead," Tony said as though it was obvious.

"What?" the IA detective asked in shock.

"All three of Gibbs ex-wives and the girlfriends I've met have all been red-heads," Tony explained. "Ziva might have been willing to go there if it was necessary to get Gibbs support but it wasn't." 

"Then what did you think was his motivation for such a huge breach of national security?" IA asked.

"I thought that he wanted her on the team in the liaison position to keep her in the states to protect her from whatever fallout there was for killing Ari. As his handler, she shouldn't have let it get that far," Tony replied.

IA sighed, "If his death wasn't originally planned by the bosses to begin with. They might have sent him here realising he couldn't be trusted and used his death to further the career of his replacement."

"That's cold! He was her brother," Tony said.

"From what I've heard they both profiled as sociopaths," IA said. "And they weren't brought up together, it's likely she had little feeling for him."

-o0o-

The end of the day had come and gone as they chased what leads they had and now Tim, Tony, Carter's team and IA were the only people left in the bullpen.

"Go home everyone. Hopefully the Autopsies or McGee's searches will turn up something because at the moment we got nothing. Let's look at it with fresh eyes in the morning."

"Are we allowed to leave," Tony asked the IA.

"Yeah, don't try to talk to anyone. I mean it boys go home and stay there, and stay off all forms of social media," the IA leader said.

"You drive this morning McGoo?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I did thanks Tony, I was planning to stop by the store on my way home. I've been putting it off and my cupboards are bare," Tim replied.

"You can stop at the store," IA allowed.

-o0o-

"You think they're going to follow us home?" Tim asked worriedly once they were alone in the elevator.

"More likely track us on GPS, I would assume our phones are bugged though," Tony said.

"There's a payphone at the bodega I often shop at if you want me to try to get a message to Spencer," Tim offered. "I'm not entirely sure it will be in service but I could try."

"No don't risk it, Spence will understand that we can't contact him," Tony said. "He will know not to contact us while we might still be under investigation. Get what you need for the next couple of days and go home, watch a movie or read a book. Stay off your computer. I'll see you in the morning at the usual time."

"Okay Tony. See you tomorrow," Tim said understanding the unspoken order to do nothing that might arouse suspicion.

-o0o-

The next morning began like the last, except that Tim and Tony weren't surprised to see IA in their space continuing to go through Ziva and Tim's computers.

"Are all these search programs registered?" one of them asked eagerly.

"Yes, my first boss suggested that it was important to get them registered so NCIS can sell them on if they're applicable to the other agencies and I get the recognition for my work," Tim replied. Actually his first boss had registered one of his first programs as his own work, and been complimented by their CO for it, which is why Tim registered all his programs as works in progress before he used them on the job, and then registered the finish products as soon as he'd ironed enough bugs out of them to work efficiently.

"Pity that. You've got some great programs," the guy commented making Tim smile proudly. "Since I can't use them can you come over here and run a search for me?"

"Sure," Tim replied, moving to his computer. "What are the parameters?"

"I want to know everything I can about Ziva David's financial records, here in the states and back in Israel," the man said softly.

Tim grinned and got to work. He set up the searches and moved back to his temporary desk to keep working Carter's case. A couple of hours later his computer pinged and the IA technician called him back over.

Tim looked over the results and asked. "Do you want them printed and do you need me to go through them with you?"

"Did you find anything interesting?" IA asked hopefully.

"Probably nothing you can use. There's no unexplained activity on her accounts in Israel or the US, but she has thrice transferred money from those accounts to a swiss bank account that I can't get details of. The swiss banking security is no myth. I could try to hack the bank directly but I would need a specific court order," Tim replied.

"Hopefully just the fact we know about the account might rattle her, I'll get you that order," IA told him.

"Let me know when you have it," Tim replied getting up to go back to his temporary desk.

"I told you I could get the court order," IA said.

"And anything I find before the judge signs of on it would be inadmissible. Not to mention the trouble I'd get into if their security is as aggressive as I've heard they can be and they manage to back hack into our system while I'm illegally hacking theirs," Tim retorted, was this IA guy seriously encouraging him to break the law. Were they that keen to get Ziva or was it a test of his own trustworthiness? For that matter did they already have the information on Ziva's financials and were just checking to see if Tim would find and report the same information?"

From across the bullpen Tony could see Tim becoming frazzled. He IM'd Tim making the computer on Balboa's spare desk chime loudly. "I've got search results coming in on the triple homicide, I need to get back to work," Tim excused himself hurrying away from the IA guys calculating gaze.

He read the message, smiling slightly at his SFA's observation skills and concern and typed back explaining the situation.

"You did the right thing," Tony replied.

"You think he was testing me?" Tim asked.

"Maybe. If Ziva is a foreign agent he will need to work out who she's managed to corrupt," Tony replied.

-o0o-

Gibbs was angry at being left to cool his heels in the holding cells for more than twenty four hours before being interviewed.

"What the hell was the hold up?" He demanded.

"It was your choice to continue trying to impede the investigation after you were warned. You could have spent yesterday working and the night in your own bed if you'd been reasonable," the warder said.

Gibbs bit back a sharp retort and when he'd controlled his temper, asked as politely as he could. "What is the investigation about?"

"Tell me about the members of your team?" The interrogator asked without explaining.

"You're going after my team?" Gibbs roared.

"Sit down and answer the question or I'll have you escorted back to holding," the interrogator said uncompromisingly.

"Now I will get the information I need with or without your assistance. The only question is whether I will be charging you as an accessory, recommending your dismissal for being too blind to see what's going on in front of you or deciding you were making the best of the situation and trying to limit the damages. That third option will be removed from the table if you continue to refuse to answer my questions," the interrogator said trying to glare Gibbs into a submission. "Now tell me about your team?"

"My senior field agent is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo Jr. He's been with me for five years. I recruited him from Philadelphia PD after we worked a joint operation. He's a hell of a detective, but a bit of a clown at times. My probationary agent is Agent Timothy McGee, certified computer genius. He's been with the MCRT for over a year now and is shaping up into a fine agent," Gibbs fell silent but the interrogator continued to stare at him clearly expecting more. "Ziva David is NCIS's Mossad liaison. She's highly skilled in undercover work and is learning the skills of investigation."

"What are her qualifications?" The interrogator asked.

"She's a fully qualified and experienced Mossad Agent and handler, with impressive scores at the shooting range," Gibbs said beginning to be aware what this was about.

"She completed The FLETC courses to qualify as a field agent?" The interviewer asked as if merely confirming information.

"No, she didn't need to she already has those skills," Gibbs disagreed.

"She completed qualifications to process a crime scene and collect and handle evidence?" the interviewer pressed.

"I trained her to do that!" Gibbs stated.

"Are you accredited as a trainer in that area?" the interviewer asked.

"I've been training Probies for years," Gibbs declared.

"Yes Probationary agents that had already completed their mandatory classes at FLETC," the interrogator retorted unimpressed.

"I trained her well," Gibbs insisted.

"That's irrelevant. Without the necessary qualifications, the admissibility of any evidence she collected without supervision of either you or agent DiNozzo could be brought into question by any half decent defence lawyer and it's only going to take one of them to realise that for all the cases you've solved in the last four months to be at risk of being thrown out."

Gibbs paled, Tony had tried to warn him but Jen had said it had been sorted. In hindsight, he should have checked and made sure.

"Director Sheppard assured me that she had taken care of obtaining the necessary clearances for Ziva to join our team," he protested weakly.

"If she did we can find no record of it," the IA interrogator said.

Gibbs cursed. "Have you asked her about it?"

"Tell me about David's computer skills?" the interviewer asked.

"I'm hardly the person to ask!" Gibbs protested.

"I am aware of that, but what can you tell me. You said McGee does most of your computer searches. Is David capable of doing them?"

"She never has. When McGee has been out we've had to call for support," Gibbs replied.

"So it would surprise you then if we found multiple searches on her computer?"

"No McGee often borrows a second computer when he overloads his own," Gibbs replied. He frowned, it was true McGee did run searches on multiple computers but thinking back lately he always used Tony's, not Ziva's. and he spent time between most cases cleaning up the hard drives and deleting unwanted information to obtain maximum performance when he needed it. There shouldn't have been search results on Ziva's computer. Not from any searches done by McGee.

"He hasn't used Ziva's computer much lately," he admitted.

The interrogator nodded, "we will have Agent McGee go through and identify which searches he's responsible for. What about accessing case files and naval documents. Is that part of David's role in an investigation?"

"She should only access the cases we worked and the cold cases she's been assigned unless one of them triggers a memory of a previous case or a suspect's name flags on another case."

"We can check on the cases easily enough. What about classified naval and marine documents and specifications, and details on agents posted overseas?"

"No she had no reason to access those," Gibbs said frowning. "I didn't know she'd done that."

McGee should have noticed that when he was doing whatever he did with their computers, had he missed it, or had he just not told him.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Reader Ethiriel, AndDeathShallHaveNoDominion, Criminal Minds Queen, Guest, DS2010, Guest, Rori Potter, Village-Mystic, XxXxJackBlackxXxX, ShadowWolf's Fables, NyxxNoxx, Calgal48, julschristine975, ladysavay, serenityselena, Locket1, Irene (Guest), Sincerely-ADedicatedFan, tlcroft, Georgia (Guest), Angel4EverLostInLife, katydidnt, Dorothy42, jpmuel01, delia cerrano, dantexsin, Jutsu Dream, Nicolediane, finnray, Funbaby911, BrothersBestFriends, kittenlore, , Buusia33, Gushlaw, Krystal1327, .71619, Zankou, BakuganShari, angle fish, WhimsyDragonQueen, EdEsE, , Mulligan, Ihatechoosinganame, lauraburle, RLBBlindBard, ShadowGuardianAngel, ButtercupHarmony, Holen-Snape, BellaBlack2012, amber10587, The Flea, Selenity84, hellshadowreaper, Dark-hunterxONihime, YueLilianPotter, ninnki92, kaz29, StoryArk, Confused Interests, amethyst0216, aDDiCTED-2-SUGaR, iroshi, LadyoftheRose1235, jot52, steelefanforever, Maikae, chrisfanatic3, LAG0802, Vickage, luna1971, pernrider, E-Nizzy, EbonyMidnight, stargazegal, Anna Maria Taigi, kisskia, EMMACAT, Deathly Sarcasm, bunny86, jonayla, killthewhispered, EMReader81, D'Nalia, LadyJen97, angeliquemb9, hochexplosiv, Shirosaki-Yuki, flora1309, Mefeather, sammy6669, Hollyowl, delnor and cfbme for your support.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Not surprisingly, the court order allowing them to hack into a Swiss Bank's records never arrived and at the end of the day it was Tony's turn to complain about the directive to go straight home.

"I have plans tonight!" He said.

"Can't you reschedule?" IA asked wearily. The words might have been a question but the tone indicated clearly that it was an order.

"We've rescheduled twice already because one or the other was working a case. If I'm not working then I'd like to see him. I need food anyway. He's FBI so he'll understand me not being able to talk about work, he'll just assume we're working on something classified," Tony decided to push the issue.

"Do you mean your friend, Dr Reid?" The IA guy they thought was in charge asked.

"Yeah. I need to ring him to either confirm or cancel our arrangements. I'm not going to just stand him up. His time off is too valuable for that," Tony replied.

"Ring and cancel from here," the IA guy said, standing close enough to listen in.

"Hey Tony, please don't tell me you're ringing to cancel again?" Spencer answered.

"I'm afraid so Reid," Tony said, using his surname in the hope Spencer would realise the conversation wasn't private. "I can't make it."

"I take it you haven't got time to talk either," Spencer said perceptively. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine, I just aren't going to have any personal time until the case breaks, you know how it is," Tony said in a calm reassuring voice.

"I do. Call me when your case is over," Spencer replied sounding relieved.

"Thanks for understanding," Tony said.

"Take care of yourself. You and Tim watch each other's backs," Spencer said.

"We will Spence, I'll talk to you soon," Tony replied.

"Why did he ask you to watch each other's backs?" The IA guy asked.

"We haven't felt able to trust Ziva to have our backs, and Gibbs wouldn't listen to our concerns so we've been trying to limit the risks by looking out for each other," Tony explained. "Spencer is aware of our concerns, I've used him as a sounding board to try to come to a workable solution."

"Good idea," the IA guy nodded. "Did you ever trust her?"

"When we first met her she was Mossad and the handler of someone we all believed to be a traitor. Then all of a sudden she's here taking the place of the agent that traitor killed," Tony said snarkily. "No I never trusted her."

"I wanted to, because Gibbs clearly did and we trust him. But the way she plays one of us off against the rest is too calculating and it's my job to clean up the computers and keep the search programs running properly. I couldn't help but see that she'd been acre song things she shouldn't. Or she'd scrubbed the history herself when the computer skills she claimed to have and everything she showed us didn't match that level of ability," Tim added.

"I don't suppose you kept a record of what she was accessing?" IA said interestedly.

"Not the first couple of times, but after I became suspicious I set up a small Trojan in the main computer that records what NCIS and Navy files she's accessed. I was afraid to mess with her actual computer when I didn't know what sort of security she'd added to it," Tim replied.

"Get me the list of all the NCIS files and NAVY files she's accessed and go through it highlighting all the files she had a legitimate reason to access as part of an investigation," Assistant Director Leon Vance said from behind him.

The IA nodded their approval, "We'd like a list of what she shouldn't have accessed. We understand that some of it may need to be redacted but a brief description of the redacted information or even just the level of clearance for legitimate access and an assessment of the damage it will cause if Mossad or the Israeli Military and Navy have that information would be helpful."

"I'll get right on it," Tim replied, heading down to the basement where the main computers were.

"First thing in the morning will do Agent McGee, it's not time critical, you've already worked a ten hour day and the suspect is in secure custody," AD Vance replied.

"Thank you Director, but I'd rather get this over with and get back to normal," Tom said. "It won't take long to pull the data and print it out."

"I'll help go through and highlight the files she could have opened as part of an investigation," Tony said also putting down his bag. "Since I no longer have dinner plans."

"Thanks Tony," Tim said.

"Why's AD Vance here, he wouldn't be next in line to be acting director?" Tim asked once they were alone again.

"I don't know but he's from the west coast so maybe he's the one who's had the least to do with the Director, and he'd probably never met Ziva," Tony replied.

"What do you know about him?" Tim asked.

"Very little, and we can't go looking him up in this situation. We need to keep our heads down and hope this snafu doesn't expand to include us," Tony warned his probie. "Let's get these files they need and get out of here."

It was late by the time they'd finished going through the list of files. "Wow she's been into everything lately, it's as if she knew we stopped investigating her," Tim said.

"I'm only glad you didn't remove this program when we were asked to stop investigating her," Tony said.

"I forgot all about it but it isn't targeted directly at Ziva, I could call up a list of the files accessed on your computer, or any computer here at headquarters. The only way around it is if she used someone else's computer to do it," Tim replied.

"Maybe you should check our computers and Gibbs, especially for times we can prove we weren't at the yard," Tony suggested.

"Maybe we should do it tonight. If there's nothing or there are things that incriminate us instead of Ziva we don't have to mention it," Tim said.

"Have you been accessing files you shouldn't McStickynose?" Tony asked laughing.

"No but if she's been using our computers while we're on our way out or down in Autopsy or with Abby it could be difficult to prove it wasn't us," Tim said. "She's the type to set up a fall guy in case someone noticed the programs being accessed when they shouldn't be."

Tony sobered. "You're right, particularly if she knew about this little program of yours," he said.

"I never worked on it in the bullpen and she wasn't here when I installed it. Neither was anyone else who might talk to her about it," Tim said. "It's not on her computer so her security wouldn't find it and it doesn't slow down the process of opening the files."

Luckily it either hadn't occurred to Ziva that somebody could monitor which computer station accessed which files, or she'd been wary of what security measures the men had placed on their machines, so she hadn't used Tim's or Tony's computers. Tim redacted a copy of the list of files for IA while Tony prepared his copy for AD Vance.

"Give the redacted copy to Vance too, let him give it to IA," Tony ordered.

"You think he needs to check what we've redacted?" Tim asked.

"I think the redactions are fine but it never hurts to let the boss think he's in charge McGoo," Tony said winking. "And he might have a better idea than us of the threat assessments."

"And it lets IA know we consider Vance to be in charge and let's Vance know we accept his stepping up too," Tim said observantly.

"Like I said. It can't hurt," Tony agreed.

 _-o0o-_

 _The next morning Tony and Tim were careful to concentrate on the case they were working for Carter, breaking the case and going down to watch Carter interrogate the suspect._

 _"You forgot the popcorn boys," Tony joked with Carter's team._

 _"Why'd you need to come watch anyway?" his probie asked._

 _"You can learn a lot from watching the way different investigators carry out their interrogations. I want McLearner here to watch Carter's techniques, I think some of them would work well for him," Tony educated both probies._

 _They took his words to heart and sat watching and listening, analysing how Carter manipulated the suspect into telling them everything he knew. He wasn't the killer but he confessed to several other crimes and gave them the information they needed to find the murderer._

 _-o0o-_

 _After the interrogation, Tony kept Tim back in the viewing room. "I'm worried about the Boss._

 _They've had him in custody for three days now," Tony said._

 _"Wouldn't they need to charge him with something?" Tim asked._

 _"Yes he's beyond the seventy-two hours they can hold him. Unless they're considering terrorist charges," Tony replied. "They could always have charged him with a misdemeanour and be holding him under it meaning to drop the charges if they can clear him, or finish their investigation."_

 _"Gibbs is no terrorist!" Tim said._

 _"No he isn't, but he's been turning a blind eye to whatever Ziva is up to. If they can prove he was doing it deliberately for some reason, it could be considered treason," Tony said._

 _"He wouldn't have done that," Tim protested._

 _"No he wouldn't. I just wish I could understand why he wanted to trust her so much that he couldn't trust us," Tony said pensively._

 _Tim understood that Gibbs lack of trust in them had hurt Tony more than it had hurt him because Tony had felt closer to Gibbs than he did. The two of them had worked well as a team of two, almost as partners until Kate and he had been added to the team. It had been okay because he and Kate had been so green, Tony was still clearly second in charge, but Ziva had never accepted Tony as her superior and Gibbs had allowed her to undermine Tony's seniority and his relationship with Gibbs._

 _-o0o-_

The ban on them talking to outsiders was lifted late that afternoon and Tony called Spencer as they left the building. Spencer eagerly invited he and Tim to come to his place for dinner to hear all about the IA investigation. Tim eagerly accepted when Tony called him to extended the invitation.

"I haven't ordered dinner, do you want Italian or something else?" Spencer asked as they arrived at his condo.

"Chinese, there's no need for comfort food tonight. We did it Spence. Ziva David will be on her way to Gitmo by the end of next week, Director Sheppard has been charged as an accomplice. The only down side I can see is that Gibbs has been in custody for the last three days and we don't know what if anything he has been charged with," Tony said.

"He was taken into custody for impeding the investigation before we arrived at work the first day," Tim reported. "The scuttlebutt is that the tantrum he threw was truly legendary. And Abby was arrested today for the minor assault of an officer when they wouldn't let her in to see him."

"She'll be released in the morning without charges," Tony added.

Spencer looked thoughtfully at Tim trying to gauge his emotional reaction to both Abby being in jail and her deliberately getting herself arrested just to see another man. He seemed to be doing okay with it for the moment and Spencer hoped he was starting to get over the slightly narcissistic woman. He glanced over at Tony gesturing towards Tim and Tony just shrugged.

"So, no comfort food needed for Tony tonight, what about you Tim are we having McDonalds?" Spencer asked quietly.

"No Chinese is fine, I'm a bit worried about Abby, and what Gibbs is going to do to us for letting her be arrested but Ziva's gone. Some head slaps and petty revenge are a small price to pay for feeling safe and knowing my whole team has my back in the field," Tim replied, grateful for the support.

Spencer nodded, "Then tonight we should celebrate," he said smiling.

"You got that right, we met with IA and we're not the one's on their hook. That's always worth celebrating," Tony joked trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Definitely!" Spencer agreed. He fetched the takeaway menus and once his guests had made their choices, phoned in the order before pulling a bottle of champagne out of the fridge.

"Italian, it's sweeter than French champagne," Spencer warned them.

"Suits me," Tim replied.

"Hey I am Italian, it's perfecto," Tony said kissing his fingertips and making the other two laugh.

"So IA actually told you they were arresting David as a terrorist?" Spencer asked.

"I put a program into the NCIS mainframe identifying which files have been opened by which computer terminals. She'd been into all sorts of documents she shouldn't have been able to access. Troop movements, naval vessel schematics, blueprints of the bases, the identities and covers of the agents working in that part of the world, military secrets of all descriptions. She's going down, the only problem now is to identify what she did with the information. Has she already passed it all along and to whom," Tony said seriously. "We were right about her, having her at NCIS was a major threat to Naval and Marine security, I only hope they didn't catch her too late,"

"You did all you could," Spencer said supportively. "There was no way to get them to act any quicker. It was out of our hands."

"What's really going to hurt is the best case scenario is that we're going to be putting four months of scumbags back onto the street when their lawyers blow holes in our cases because of the traitor's presence," Tony griped.

"You don't know that Tony, there weren't many crime scenes she worked without you, so you managed to countersign most of the evidence she collected," Tim said optimistically.

"Yeah and Gibbs could probably go back and sign off on the things she did for the first few weeks," Tony said thoughtfully. "He isn't going to want to hear it though."

"Even if some of their cases are dropped, you have identified the perpetrators so once the charges have to be dropped, Tim would be able to use his computer skills to keep an eye on them and catch them the next time they try something," Spencer said encouragingly.

"This isn't your fault Tony, you tried to tell him he needed to countersign everything until he'd seen written proof of her qualifications," Tim said gently. "If anything, it's director Sheppard's fault for telling Gibbs that she'd taken care of the certifications for Ziva to work in the field."

"You think that's going to make any difference to Gibbs? Telling him to go down and countersign the evidence he supervised her collecting is going to sound like I'm telling him 'I told you so'," Tony said cringing.

"Ouch!" Tim cried. "Maybe we could ask Vance to tell him," he suggested.

"No, I don't want to sour their relationship before they have a chance to get to know each other," Tony said. "I'll do it, preferably when he's not in arms reach, but I'll do it."

"Could we ask the guy from IA to tell him when they release him?" Tim suggested worriedly.

"You know he'd be sacked for striking a fellow agent if a team leader did that at the FBI?" Spencer asked. "Director Morrow and Director Sheppard should have put a stop to that."

Tony chuckled mirthlessly. "Neither of them forced Gibbs to do a single damn thing he didn't want to do."

"He still might be charged, or lose his qualifications over this," Spencer said. "Particularly since we handed the NSA the recordings of the attempts you made to warn him of the problems."

"If he is then we'll both be reassigned, and the chances of both of us being assigned new positions here at the navy yard are pretty slim," Tony said pessimistically.

"Would they promote you to team leader?" Spencer said. "You have the years of experience as SFA to be ready for that."

"Not of the MCRT," Tony replied bleakly.

"They could promote Balboa's team to be the MCRT though and you and I could build a new team to replace Balboa's," Tim said hopefully.

"That sounds good Tim, but I doubt we'd be so lucky," Tony said pragmatically. "It depends who the new director will be and what he values in team leaders."

"Do you have any idea who your new Director will be?" Spencer asked.

"No, AD Vance is acting Director for now but possibly because he's from the west coast and had the least interaction with Sheppard. I don't think he has the seniority to be considered for the job long term. Which of course might have been why the other assistant directors agreed on him taking over at the moment."

"Except for the fact that he's doing the job and so far he seems to be doing okay, if he continues to do the job well enough they may choose not to change again for continuity's sake," Spencer said thoughtfully. "Do you think you can work well with him in the meantime?"

"He seemed very supportive," Tim offered.

"Yeah, he did a good job of staying in control of the situation," Tony agreed. "We'll have to wait and see how he manages the teams in a more normal situation. And how he manages to deal with Gibbs."

Tim laughed, "Has anyone managed to manage Gibbs?" he asked.

Tony laughed too and shook his head.

The food arrived and Tony and Spencer deliberately turned the conversation away from their uncertain future and back to what it was like to have IA investigating their team.

"You haven't heard the kicker yet. IA want to buy some of McComputerGeek's search programs," Tony said slapping his probie on the shoulder proudly.

"Really, that's amazing," Spencer said impressed.

"Yeah, of course they're all registered as property of NCIS so I won't get any of the money but it's good for the agency, and for my reputation," Tim said grinning.

"If you don't watch out your next posting will be down in the basement with the cyber geeks," Tony said.

"I hope not. I worked hard to get off that track when I started at NCIS. If I wanted to be a computer geek I'd work for the private sector, they pay a lot better," Tim replied.

Spencer laughed, "You're at NCIS to be field agent, if they don't give you a field posting remind them of that. Your skills would be welcome at any of the other agencies."

"Yeah Tim, Gibbs might be in trouble now but his reputation for training great field agents and investigators is sound. There will be a lot of teams that would be happy to have you," Tony said.

"With your language skills, you're likely to be posted to one of the overseas offices sooner or later though."

"But you trained me, more than Gibbs," Tim said.

"That won't matter, you're a damned good probie and you'll make a good junior agent on any team," Tony said. "No matter who the new Director is, they'd have to be stupid to bench an asset like you. Especially knowing you have open offers from several civilian tech companies and a couple of companies with Navy contracts."

"How did you know about that? Have you been snooping around my apartment again?" Tim asked wearily.

Spencer looked on amused, he was aware that Tony did it to him too, but unlike when his old team crossed the line investigating his credit history or using facial recognition to identify his friends so they could search their backgrounds without his permission it didn't bother him, he knew Tony was just trying to look after the people he cared about and he didn't go out of his way to investigate him and didn't share his breech of privacy with others, or use it against him. As long as his nosiness didn't uncover anything which threatened Spencer's safety, he knew Tony wouldn't use the information in any way, even to tease him.

"Do you have offers? Any you'd like to pursue?" Spencer asked.

"Oh no you don't, Doctor Spencer Reid. One of you working two or three jobs is one too many, you're not going to corrupt him into thinking he can do it too," Tony said firmly.

"I was thinking, what if we somehow made the brass aware of those offers, so they know they can't just shaft you into a position you don't want. Maybe have them overhearing you tell Tony that you don't care what they're offering you want to be a field agent so they know that's your motivation for staying at NCIS," Spencer said.

"Does your team know you're this manipulative?" Tim asked amused.

"Most profilers are capable of extreme manipulation, that's how we talk down unsubs. I generally try not to profile or manipulate my friends or my team mates," Spencer admitted cheerfully, understanding that Tim hadn't meant any offence.

-o0o-

"Tracy was asking about you at the poetry reading last night. She thought that it would've been something. You wanted to go to," Spencer said as they cleaned up after their meal. He'd sat and profiled the young woman for the rest of the evening after she'd been disappointed not to see Tim and checked into her background. He hadn't found anything concerning and hoped she was genuinely interested in his friend.

"I had planned to go if work allowed," Tim agreed.

"She sounded pretty disappointed that you couldn't make it," Spencer said. "She was talking about getting a group of is to go to some Jazz festival in a couple of weeks."

"I'd probably need to apply for a few days annual leave to go to something like that," Tim said. "It might not be such a good idea with everything so up in the air at work."

Spencer realised that Tim was talking about more than taking a few days off work. Thinking about it, it made sense, he wouldn't want to put the effort into starting a relationship and risking his heart if he might be posted across the country any day either.

"I told her you were working, she understood," Spencer said quietly, subtly letting Tim know that the opportunity would probably still be there when his work life was more settled.

A/N: Thank you to Criminal Minds Queen, knuckles 8, Astrahan, brighteyes343, DS2010, Rori Potter, julschristine975, Reader Ethiriel, Mika (Guest), Maikae, .Hyuse, Guest, Village-Mystic, erik (Guest), delia cerrano, joniskpelare, Reading Nut, jot52, Befegore, bad1200, devouringnormal, HonorSkywalker, TempesteSatanus, KiraraKitaoji, All Around Yaoi Fangirl, Imenka, Liliantha, BringOnTheWonder1997, snickerson3j, DarkMoon010, Hannah201, Verona-mira, Undine-Genest, eyescold, HappyNicey, TheRealDeanWinchester, Silverfawkes, Mickey-Phil, redstickbonbon, dupond48, jansesu, Dragonstar94, NCIS greek fan, RushTogether67, hoove-print-on-your-heart, black wolf-kot, Sharantyr42, Princess Simi **,** jsm2011, wdlwbt, Tsukiyomi Cecilia and lialt1 for your support.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Six months after Reid left the BAU a deeply tanned, tall slim man in tight jeans, boots and a trendy black leather jacket over a skin tight white t-shirt displaying an impressive amount of muscle for one so thin, walked tiredly into the bull pen and up to Hotch's office without saying anything to anyone. His short sun streaked blonde hair falling in what looked like artful disarray over the right side of his beautiful face.

"Who was that?" Ashley asked admiring the man's lean form and tight butt.

"Who?" Emily said, coming out of the kitchen and just catching a glimpse of back of the man Ashley was looking at as he entered Hotch's office.

"The guy in Hotch's office," Ashley said.

"I don't know, I didn't get enough of a look to recognise him, what did he say?" Emily asked.

"He didn't say anything, he just walked straight up and looked into Hotch's office, tapped on the doorframe, grinned, then went in and shut the door. Do you think he could be a new addition to the team?" Ashley asked eagerly.

"We don't have a vacancy on the team" Morgan growled.

"You will when I go back to the academy next month," Ashley reminded him. "Maybe Hotch wants to orient someone to the team before I go."

"What's going on?" JJ said as she came delivering files.

"Do you know who's visiting Hotch?" Ashley asked.

"Hotch has a visitor?" JJ asked surprised, looking up at the closed blinds of Hotch's office.

"Yeah tall lean, blonde," Ashley said.

"Not to mention Ashley's definition of Hot," Emily said teasingly.

"He looked like he could be a fashion model, and he knew his way up to Hotch's office without asking," Ashley said frowning at Emily.

JJ shrugged, "Sounds a bit like it could be Sean," she said thoughtfully.

"Sean?" Ashley asked. "Who's Sean?"

"Sean Hotchner, Hotch's brother," JJ said.

"I didn't know Hotch had a brother" Morgan said.

"Well, I'm not sure if he's a brother or half-brother but he's about ten years younger than Hotch and they've never been close" JJ said. "I've never met him but Hotch described him as being blonde and inheriting all the better features from the Hotchners. Given that Hotch himself is quite good looking, I imagine Sean must be gorgeous. From his picture in Hotch's wedding photos he was a very good looking teenager."

"Hmm" Emily agreed. "I can't picture a young, blond, smiley Hotch." Privately she thought a lot of Hotch's sex appeal came from his dark broody alpha persona, a soft pretty blond version wouldn't interest her.

"He didn't look at all like Hotch I think it could be a new agent," Ashley said hopefully. She didn't think she could make a pass at her boss' brother even if she managed to catch him on his way out.

"Isn't he coming back?" Morgan demanded of JJ.

"Who?" Ashley asked, confused, but JJ automatically knew who Morgan was talking about and frowned.

"He hasn't spoken about it to me either way," JJ replied.

"Morgan's right we don't need a new agent, we need Reid back," Emily said.

"You're saying you'd rather have Dr Geeky Brain rather than Mr Gorgeous?" Ashley asked surprised, gesturing at Hotch's office. She'd heard all of them mention a time or two that they could use Dr Reid's help with solving a case or working the geographic profile, but she didn't think from their behaviour that they seriously missed him or expected him to come back to the team.

"Don't call him that!" Emily snapped. They'd all become quite protective of Reid's reputation and image due to the guilt they felt when they realised how much they'd hurt him.

"Reid is one of us, he belongs here, and he's one of the best profilers I've ever met," Morgan said angrily. "I can't think of a single case that wouldn't probably have been solved quicker with his help."

Ashley stepped back slightly surprised by Morgan's reaction, every time the genius' name had come up in the last six months Morgan had seemed angry at Dr Reid. Now he was demanding the genius returned.

-o0o-

In the meantime, Hotch looked up and greeted the man Agent Seaver called 'Mr Gorgeous' with a smile.

"Reid, please tell me you're here to tell me you're coming back" he greeted.

Spencer looked unsure. "Seger will be back in a few weeks but Jack Garrett said he'd have a pretty good chance of keeping me if I wanted to stay. I'm here to find out if I still have a place on the team before I make my decision."

"Spencer, please, we need you, our average length of time to solve a case has blown out nearly an extra forty hours, and there's almost always at least one more death in that extra time, your contribution to our team has been sorely missed by us all," Hotch almost begged. "Cooper and Moffat would both happily make room for you on their teams if you'd prefer it, or the three of us would be prepared to shuffle all the teams to give you the team mates of your choosing, if that's what it would take to have you return to the BAU."

"The teams would resent being chopped and changed like that," Spencer objected.

"Do you honestly think you can come back and work with the team as is?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, I think so," Spencer said nodding. "JJ and I are okay now. I've started having dinner with them one night each time I'm in town to spend time with Henry. Emily apologised and was incredibly helpful when I rang her in the middle of the night asking for background information on the embassy staff in Bahrain, in spite of the fact we both know how much she hates been woken up. We've talked a couple of time since and I'm sure we can work together. Garcia's also done me a couple of favours over the last six months, she seems to realise that she needs to keep to professional boundaries. And I'm no longer afraid to stand up for myself and tell them to pull their heads in when they're out of line."

"And Morgan?" Hotch asked. Derek Morgan had been extremely pissed off when Reid accepted the secondment to the IRT, and even more angry when he found out that Reid had approached Garrett asking for the position. Hotch knew that Morgan had thought of Spencer Reid as his little brother, but didn't realise he often took what he thought of as brotherly teasing too far and that as the only child of two very dysfunctional parents Reid was frequently confused and sometimes hurt by his actions.

"I don't know Hotch, we haven't spoken since I left the BAU," Spencer said quietly. "But if I come back I'm not taking any of his shit, or doing any of his work for him."

"Spencer, I don't expect you to accept anyone slipping you extra work," Hotch said seriously before grinning maliciously. "Unless of course you want to, When I found out what they were doing when you were injured, I told them that if you were doing their work you'd be collecting that percentage of their pay. It took some arguing but HR has finally approved it. Just make note of how many files you complete for each person each week."

Spencer smirked back. "How did you convince them of that?" he asked.

"Well I started with the argument that no matter where you're situated in the Bureau, you do more than twice as much work on consults and cold cases as anyone else in addition to the work you do for other agencies, and the work that the rest of the team gave you instead of doing it themselves, so if you left they'd have to replace you with at least three agents, then I pointed out that all the other agencies pay you by the case so you'd actually earn more money if you quit working full time for the FBI and agreed to consult for us as you do for the other agencies. Then I mentioned that one of your reasons for leaving the BAU was that the other agents were expecting you to do their work for them and they should be penalised for not doing their own work. HR and I worked out what percentage of time we normally spend in the office on paperwork and how much each level of Agent would normally achieve in that time. We've set the pay grading so that most of our agents won't notice much alteration in their pay if they complete the work allocated to them. It's only fair that the new system will mean a pay raise for you even if you don't accept extra files slipped to you by the team because you are allocated twice as many consults as anyone else and you have the added opportunity to earn a bonus at their expense if they try to take advantage of you.

Spencer laughed, "I can't say I will take on much of their work, I'm studying and I have more of a social life than I used to have."

Hotch smiled, "I'm glad to hear it. Do I need to threaten Garcia to stay out of your business again?"

"No, we're at the stage of meeting each other's friends and family, I'm taking her home to meet Mom next weekend, most of my friends know about her," Spencer said cheerfully. "She came to the zoo with me to meet you last weekend before we found out you were called away."

Hotch smiled, pleased that Spencer had included him in the friends he wanted his girlfriend to meet.

"We will have to try again next time we both have a day off."

"I've got Saturday off unless we get called away. JJ and Will have plans with Henry but we could meet up with you and Jack somewhere," Spencer offered.

"There's a new exhibit that Jack's been wanting to see. I think he's been waiting for you to accompany us so you can answer all his questions about it," Hotch said smiling amusedly. 

"The new personal jet propulsion exhibit at the Smithsonian?" Spencer asked enthusiastically. "The one where..."

He stopped himself. "I'll wait and tell you when Jack's with us so you don't have to listen to me twice. My friend Tim wants to see that exhibit, he's something of a fanatic when it comes to jetpacks. Do you mind if he joins us, if he's not working a case?"

Hotch smiled sadly. He was pleased that Spencer seemed to have more of a social awareness now but saddened how it came about.

"Your friend is welcome and Jack and I will look forward to hearing what you've got to tell us," he said. He was eager to meet this new friend, Spencer had talked about a couple of times.

Spencer grinned, "Then let's hope none of us get a case."

"It will be easier to catch up like this when you're back on my team," Hotch said.

"If you still want to hang out with me in your time off after being in each other's pockets in the field," Spencer said.

"Jack and I will want to hang out with our friend Spencer no matter how much time I've spent working with Dr Reid," Hotch said confidently.

-o0o-

"You really want to go back to the BAU? I thought you were happy with your new team?" Tony asked when Spencer bought it up that night.

"I am happy with the team but often the work we do is pretty ordinary other than it being in a foreign country. I'd get more stimulation from the BAU cases, and I cant help but think it's a better fit for my skills," Spencer replied.

"Okay I accept that, what about the offer to join one of the other teams? Do you really want to go back to the team you left?" Tony asked.

Spencer sighed, "I can't explain it, I would feel like I was betraying Hotch if I joined Cooper's or Moffatt's team. And their teams already work quite well together and think of me as being a part of Hotch's team, they'd resent me if one of them was transferred to Hotch's team to make space for me. I'd feel like an outsider. Besides, they don't need me like Hotch does."

"Hotch's team only need you because they got used to depending on you, and haven't adapted to your absence," Tony retorted.

Spencer didn't reply, busying himself with his food.

"Obviously you've subconsciously made up your mind what you want Spence, but make sure you're doing this because it's right for you," Tony admitted defeat.

"I feel that I need to give them one more chance, they were my family" Spencer said.

"If you do go back you need to remember that you're not that lonely naive kid they can take advantage of anymore, and the option to leave again or swap BAU teams if you can't work with Hotch's team," Tony said. "You have a life outside work now, and your girlfriend will be happy you won't be away for so long at a time."

Spencer grinned at that. Thinking about his girlfriend. He'd finally got to know a woman he felt comfortable with. She'd actually been one of the guest lecturers in one of the undergraduate classes on foreign literature that he hadn't been able to resist enrolling in. She'd been impressed that he'd been able to discuss everything about her subject from the controversies in the translations, to the influence the culture and other literature of that nation might have had on the authors.

As his lecturer she had been warned in advance of his work hours so she hasn't been too upset with him when he'd had to reschedule their first date. She'd been less understanding the second time but had been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when he'd come to class straight off the plane from Peru, clearly exhausted and not really dressed for the current weather. Since then she'd learnt more about what Spencer actually did and tried hard not to resent him for his absences though Spencer had to postpone dates on a fairly regular basis. Still when he talked to her about the changes returning to the BAU would cause to his schedule she'd been in favour even though he'd warned her that it would probably mean more last minute cancellations and middle of a date call outs. as the BAU cases tended to all be urgent. She liked the idea of him being in the country and in more similar time zones so she didn't have to stress about what time it would be when she called him.

"I've made my decision, I'm going back to the BAU" he told Tony.

Tony clapped him on the shoulder supportively. "I expected you would, but you have an opportunity here, Spence. Let them see the new you, the one that demands respect. Keep the people that haven't apologised at arm's length if you must but remember the strength of a team is often its teamwork. Don't go back unless you're sure you can work with these Agents on your terms."

"There's something else I wanted to talk to you about," Spencer said. "The fact that me being on the international response team increased the solve rate. There is a fairly good chance that Garrett is going to be assigned another agent. You'd be great at this job and you're 'footloose and fancy free', I think you'd enjoy it. Would you like me to let Garrett know you'd be interested in the job, put in a good word for you? You might not get the position of course since you only speak one other language."

"I would love it, but I can't leave Tim alone on the team with Gibbs, he still hasn't forgiven us for not trusting him over Ziva," Tony said. "It's like trying to work with a grizzly bear."

"Monty said Tim has skills, there'd be a place for him in the Bureau if he wanted it," Spencer said.

"Yeah but Tim was brought up to be something like third or fourth generation Navy, his father was incredibly disappointed when he didn't join the Navy too. For him working at NCIS is more than being a federal agent, he's serving the Navy the best way he can while still being the person he wants to be. I don't know that he'd leave," Tony said.

"I still think someone should make the offer. I can see how much working with Gibbs is stressing out both of you, Tim's lost at least twenty pounds in the last four months, he needs to know he has the choice to leave without giving up being an agent. Maybe if Gibbs knew you both had positions to go to and were considering it because of his behaviour, then maybe he would reconsider his support of Ziva and his punishing you for exposing the problem," Spencer said.

"You don't know Gibbs, you heard about what happened when we tried to tell him our concerns, we had valid reasons to be concerned about not just procedural issues but our own safety, and he wouldn't listen. I even gave him an ultimatum and he just dug his heels in further," Tony said chuckling ruefully. "He still hasn't admitted that we were right about Ziva."

"Tim's smart enough to see all this, will your new director transfer him if he asks?" Spencer said.

"He might but any lateral transfer off the MCRT will be seen by everyone as a demotion and he's really not ready for a SFA position. The only transfer that won't harm his career is an agent afloat posting because everyone has to do one sooner or later to advance but with his seasickness Tim wouldn't survive six months at sea," Tony said sighing.

"Do you think he knows that you're staying mainly to protect him?" Spencer asked.

-o0o-

"I'll be sorry to see you go Reid. You realise that you've improved our average time it takes to solve a case by just over twenty four hours. That means I have either spent an extra thirteen whole days at home with my wife or we saved one more group of people because you were on the team," Garrett said.

"Wow, that's great, but the solve time on my old team had increased by nearly forty hours, and they investigate more serial killers who will keep killing until caught," Spencer said. "I can save more lives by returning to the BAU."

"That's quite a blow out in their results. You could ask for almost anything you want," Monty said.

Spencer smiled slightly sadly. "They've already been more than generous but what I really want, management can't give me," he said quietly. His new team had become good friends despite Spencer's original reluctance to trust any of them personally but he still missed the feeling of family and belonging he thought he'd had with his old team before he'd been shot.

Garrett laid a supportive hand on Spencer's shoulder and squeezed lightly. Please be aware that we would welcome you back to work on our team at any time, and that not working with us doesn't mean you're leaving behind our friendship. We want to hear from you when we're both in town and your welcome to team dinners anytime you can make it.

"I would recommend Tony for your team if you have an extra vacancy, he's not a profiler but he is fairly astute when it comes to understanding people and their motivations and he's one hell of an investigator. He speaks Italian and a smattering of Spanish but he's smart enough to pick up the basics of another language fairly easily." Spencer said.

"He's ready to leave NCIS?" Garrett asked.

"Yeah he is, has been for a while so long as Tim leaves too, he's not willing to leave his probie to face Gibbs without backup," Tony replied.

"A true team player, and what do you have in mind for McGee?" Garrett asked, amused at Spencer trying to problem solve his friends' lives.

"I don't know. He could walk into a job in cyber or white collar, but they're not what he's interested in. He doesn't want to be tech support, he wants to be a field agent though Gibbs is holding him back a bit because he's the only computer savvy member of the team. He's a navy brat so he speaks a couple of other languages, Spanish, Greek and Japanese predominantly which would make him perfect for an overseas posting either with NCIS or elsewhere. I think I could convince the NSA to want him. If he stays where he is I'm going to try to talk him into doing some profiling courses, he has the brains he's just never been given that sort of experience. He'll never be a great profiler but he's smart enough to realise that from the onset, and it would certainly help his interrogating skills, he's never going to be the type of interrogator that scares suspects into confessing their crimes."

"It sounds like he could be a good fit for my team with a bit more experience. Why do you think he'd never be a great profiler?" Jack asked curiously.

"It can only be taught to a certain extent. Most profilers grow up profiling naturally just to survive their environments. Tim McGee grew up in a loving stable home, sure his Dad was strict and he moved around a lot but always with the support of his family, and that drove him inward to hobbies and activities that didn't require a stable group of friends rather than learning how to profile kids and make friends more easily.

Garrett and the team laughed. "One day you are going to make a great unit or section chief," he said.

The team laughed again at the face Spencer pulled at that idea. Garrett allowed him to brush it off but he wouldn't mind betting it was part of the brass' motives in letting accept the secondment, to experience working with a different team. Or in letting him risk himself in the field at all. With his speed of working, Spencer could probably achieve more by staying at Quantico and working with all three BAU teams by phone than accompanying a single team into the field.

A/N: Thank you to knuckles 8, Firesong23, delia cerrano, julschristine975, brighteyes343, Rori Potter, ahowell1993, Criminal Minds Queen, tlcroft, Guest, turbomagnus, Rainbow2007, DS2010, Village-Mystic, Guest, erik (Guest), serenityselena and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Tim hadn't been able to make it to the personal jet propulsion exhibit at the Smithsonian on Saturday with Hotch and Jack but Spencer assured him that if it was any good he would be more than happy to see it again with him when they were both free.

Jack had been excited about the exhibit and ran up to Spencer throwing barely saying hello before beginning to fire questions at him.

Spencer laughed and said. "Stop a minute Jack. I'll answer all your questions if I can but first I want to introduce you and your Dad to my girlfriend before we get carried away. Ingrid this is my friend Aaron Hotchner and his son Jack. Hotch this is my girlfriend Dr Ingrid Thomball. Ingrid teaches Eastern European literature at Georgetown."

"Pleasure to meet you," Hotch said smiling and shaking her hand.

"Are you a hospital doctor or a really smart doctor like Dr Reid?" Jack asked.

Ingrid laughed. "I'm not a medical doctor but I'm not as smart as Spencer is," she said. "I'm just very good at one area of literature and earned a PhD in it."

"Do you like science? are you a member of the museum like Reid? Have you ever seen a real jetpack fly? Do you think they're going to let us fly one?" Jack asked without drawing breath, much less giving her an opportunity to answer.

Spencer laughed.

"Hold on Buddy, give Reid and Dr Thomball time to answer one question before you ask the next one," Hotch scolded mildly.

"You can call me Ingrid, yes I like science though I'm not very knowledgeable about a lot of it, yes I'm a member of the Smithsonian and no I've never seen a real jetpack before. I think we might be able to see one fly today but I doubt they'll be giving rides, they sound too dangerous for beginners to try," Ingrid said counting his questions off on her fingers. Hotch laughed.

The day had been interesting and Spencer had been full of information, comprehensively answering each and every question Jack asked him but held himself back from giving the long rambling lectures he would have given a year ago.

Spencer was pleased that Ingrid seemed to get along well with both the Hotchners, and that they clearly approved of her, and he was enthralled by the jet pack technology. He held back from geeking out too much but resolved to come back and see the exhibit with Tim who he thought could probably match him in nerding out over the idea of flying a jetpack and the science behind it.

Ingrid also enjoyed the day. Jetpacks were a bit too technical and too much from the realm of science-fiction for her tastes and she didn't know much about them but was happy to hang out with Spencer as he indulged his curiosity. She was pleased to meet the man Spencer would soon return to working for and seeing Spencer and Jack together was a delight. 'Spence would make such a great father one day, she thought happily.

Hotch was pleased to see Spencer so happy with his girlfriend and while not willing to breech his trust by running a background check on her behind Spencer's back was prepared to bet that his friend Tony already had, probably with Spencer's permission, and planned to ask Spencer about it next time they were alone. Jack adored having Reid there to answer all his questions and Hotch loved seeing his son so happy while he enjoyed the break from being the recipient of Jack's never ending quest for information.

They ended the day with Pizza and ice-cream before Aaron had to take the overstimulated little boy home before he became too tired and cranky.

-o0o-

"I liked Ingrid," Hotch said, when he met Reid in for lunch later that week to finalise the arrangements of returning to the BAU before the IRT were due to fly out that afternoon.

Spencer smiled, "I'm glad. She makes me happy. And she's dealing with my hours pretty well so far."

"I'm not trying to be intrusive but did you run a background check on her?" Hotch asked curiously.

"Yeah, Tony convinced me to. She came up clean, a few too many parking tickets but parking around her apartment is a bit of a nightmare," Spencer replied, shrugging. He was fairly sure from the question that Hotch hadn't run his own background check and appreciated him asking first. He also acknowledged to himself that if he hadn't checked her background Hotch would offer to do it for him.

Hotch laughed. "Are you looking forward to coming back?" he asked curiously.

"I'm looking forward to the work. Working in foreign countries is interesting, and it certainly can be a challenge, a lot more of the locals resent our presence, but there's something more satisfying about the work the BAU does, though I do enjoy learning what I can about the other cultures it's usually not the things I'd want to learn if I went to those countries on holiday," Spencer replied.

"And returning to the team?" Aaron asked.

"I'm looking forward to working with you again, as to the rest we'll have to wait and see how it goes. I'm actually going to miss the IRT team too though, they've become good friends," Spencer replied. He wasn't trying to be evasive, he truly didn't know whether he was looking forward to working with the rest of the BAU team or not.

"Reid, sorry to interrupt but it's time to go. Hey Aaron, we'll have to catch up when we get back," Jack Garret said.

"Okay Jack," Spencer said getting up and checking he had everything he wanted in his satchel.

"See you soon, Hotch."

Aaron stood and gave Reid a brief hug. "Good hunting," he said. He shook Jack's hand and gave him a look warning him to look after their young genius.

"Two missing elderly couples in Egypt," Spencer replied. "They've already been gone nearly two weeks before anyone noticed."

Hotch frowned knowing that there was little chance of this one ending well if it had been a kidnapping. "Take care, and come back safely," he said.

"I'll do my best," Spencer replied.

-o0o-

Hotch was trying to hide his good mood and appear serious and stern as he gathered the team in the conference room the morning Reid was due back.

"Have we got a case?" Morgan said looking at JJ.

"Not that I know of, what's going on Hotch?" JJ asked.

"We have a new team member joining us in about half an hour and I wanted to discuss some things before he arrives, this unit is under scrutiny and any professional misconduct will be taken very seriously," Hotch said.

"I thought Reid was coming back" Morgan said.

Ashley looked up curiously.

"Do they have experience as a profiler?" Emily asked.

"They have extensive experience, in fact they are being considered for the senior profiler position and team leader on Moffatt's team when he retires. And it is someone you all know. However, he has changed a lot since you formed your original impression of him and your old prejudices will not help him fit into the team. I want you to give him a fresh chance, and not be too offended if he chooses to keep to a professional relationship only," Hotch said firmly. "This last six months has shown me that our team is lacking. Cases have taken us an average of 38.5 hours longer to solve with an average of 1.42 more deaths after our arrival. Cooper's and Moffatt's teams have both beaten us in the last review."

Morgan scowled, about to blame Reid for leaving.

"On another note, HR have made the decision that each of us will be paid pro rata for days in the field and for the number of consults we do when we're not in the field, so you will find quite a different look to your payslips. Which means that I will no longer be concerned if you pass your files off to another member because they will be able to sign off on having done the work and receive the remuneration for them." Hotch had been carefully watching which files had been assigned to which profiler and had pulled Morgan and Emily up several times for attempting to offload their work on each other or Rossi and Seaver since Reid had left. "Some of you might find this results in a pay raise when we're between cases and others may not it will depend on your efficiency and work ethic."

"That's not fair, some people just work quicker than others," Morgan protested.

"And some people are in the habit of doing their own paperwork and don't fool around and procrastinate," JJ replied.

"You and Prentiss are allocated the same number of files each day. Seaver doesn't get as many because she's still learning, so her pay for time in the office will still be a similar amount less than yours as it was before, and you will still be paid at the same rate you were before for your time while in the field" Hotch said. "Seniority will still apply as well, when JJ evaluates each case to determine who has the experience to fit it best she will also assign a potential level of difficulty and you will be paid accordingly, I've had some help understanding the formula they're using and I guarantee if you complete the work assigned to you then you will be paid a similar amount to what you are used to, perhaps a couple of dollars more some weeks," Hotch said.

"Good thing Pretty boy isn't here he'd bankrupt the unit" Morgan said teasingly.

Hotch frowned. "This was actually an attempt to entice SSA Dr Reid to come back to the unit. There was quite a bit of resistance to him being granted the secondment he asked for and questions were asked why he wanted to leave the BAU temporarily. One of his complaints that management took very seriously was the fact he felt he was having to complete other people's jobs in addition to his own without any thanks or recognition, when he could have been using that time to complete his consultation work for other agencies, work which he would have been paid for," he replied.

"Does that mean he is coming back?" JJ asked eagerly.

"Yes" Spencer's voice answered from the doorway.

Hotch stepped over to shake Reid's hand and JJ jumped up to hug him, but Morgan and Emily took a minute to reboot their brains. They hadn't seen Spencer at all in the last six months and other than the height the confident, urbane looking man standing smirking at them from the doorway didn't match their mental picture of the innocent nerdy young genius at all.

Ashley looked up and her eyes brightened at the sight of the gorgeous man she'd seen visiting Hotch a couple of days earlier, she smiled her most attractive smile and waited to be introduced.

"Looking good Reid" Emily said coming over. Something in Reid's body language told her he wouldn't welcome a hug, it was more than the awkwardness with people being in his personal space she was used to from him so she stuck out her hand formally, forgetting for a moment how Reid normally avoided handshakes. She was about to withdraw her hand when Reid equally formally shook it.

"You back to stay, Pretty Boy?" Morgan asked.

"Do not call me that Agent Morgan" Reid said icily.

"Sorrreeey," Morgan drawled.

Hotch frowned. "You will show Agent Reid the respect he deserves," he ordered firmly.

"But Hotch…" Morgan began. "I've always…"

"No Agent Morgan, if Strauss thinks that you cannot work effectively with SSA Dr Reid then you will be reassigned. Our stats dropped far too much without Agent Reid on the team. It has been impressed on all of us that Supervisory Special Agent Reid is an asset the FBI feel they cannot afford to lose. Management will crack down hard on any behaviour or incidents which might cause him to regret returning to the BAU. That definitely includes unwanted or demeaning nicknames," Hotch chastised the younger Agent.

Morgan looked resentful and the others subdued. Hotch thought it was lucky that Spencer didn't have an arrogant bone in his body or he could become insufferable, holding the threat of leaving over all their heads and making them all bend over backwards to please him.

Spencer on his part was slightly relieved at their reactions to Hotch's declaration. He needed the distance that the other's resentment of his special circumstances would cause to prevent him from letting his heart get involved with these people again and getting hurt again when his desire for their friendship exceeded the reality again. As much as he wanted his family back he couldn't see a point in time when he could trust these people to be that for him again.

-o0o-

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Gibbs ranted waiving the letter of resignation at Tony.

"Spencer is returning to the BAU and he recommended me to replace him on the IRT. So I'm resigning from NCIS and joining the FBI to take the position," Tony replied trying to keep calm.

"You're leaving a SFA position and taking a demotion to join the Feebs?" Gibbs demanded.

"They are not the enemy Boss," Tony pointed out, ducking as Gibbs head-slapped him hard. "And I have it on good authority that Jack Garrett doesn't resort to physical violence to manage his team."

"Why Tony? You're on track to be offered your own team at NCIS in a few years," Gibbs said.

"You know why Boss. Thanks to my friendship with Spencer, I know and trust every single member of the IRT, to do their jobs, uphold American law and to have my back. I need that right now. I can't stay here! Watching my own six and Tim's as well as trying to watch yours while you obviously don't trust me anymore is destroying me. I loved NCIS and I tried to stay as long as I could but I can't do it anymore. I did what I did because I couldn't watch Jenny Shepard and Ziva David destroy the best place I ever thought I belonged and I won't watch you and your anger at being proven to be wrong destroy me either."

"You're damaging your career to accept a demotion and change agencies," Gibbs said stubbornly.

"I applied for a lateral transfer at NCIS, as well as for the promotion that I know I'm more than due for, Vance refused to reassign me. I can't work for someone who won't listen to me and will stamp all over procedure, so I had no choice. At least the IRT will be a new challenge and a learning experience," Tony said.

Gibbs glared.

My resignation was sent to the Director and to SecNav, effective immediately due to the number of annual leave and comp hours I have this is my last day here at NCIS. I've tried to teach Tim as much as I could before I leave and he's good, he's going to be a great agent if you don't ruin him, but you know he's nowhere near ready for the SFA position yet. You'll have to bring in someone new."

Gibbs growled. "Worked as a two-man team before, we'll make do."

"You and I worked as a two-man team. I came to NCIS with nine years' experience in investigating.

McGee's got a couple of years' experience but Ziva was an assassin and an operative, not an investigator, he didn't learn anything useful from her except how not to do things. Even if you think you can solve the cases all by yourself, you need a new SFA to train McGee. You don't have the patience to do it properly."

Gibbs didn't reply, other than by storming off to get a new cup of coffee from the outside vendors.

-o0o-

"I wish you'd reconsider and take the FBI's offer too," Tony said to McGee over dinner that night.

"I've wanted to serve the navy all my life," Tim replied. "I never wanted to be a sailor like Dad wanted me to, but working for NIS protecting Naval interests and Naval dependants has always been my dream."

"I get that Tim, I do but Gibbs is talking of trying to run a two-man team with you until he gets Jenny Sheppard cleared of the charges and reinstated as an agent, instead of appointing a new SFA," Tony said worriedly.

Tim looked at the older man in shock, "He couldn't, we don't have the skill or the experience, I mean we could just about handle the crime-scenes and I could easily do the computer searches but I don't have the ability to interview witnesses and suspects like you. And my shooting is improving but you can't safely take a house with only two agents!"

"The truth is it would slow down the rate he solved cases, but Gibbs could possibly do all that. Other than the computer searches you'd do anyway he is capable of solving cases without help if he isn't too stubborn to get help from the floating agents for takedowns, but you wouldn't learn anything working for him like that," Tony said.

"I'd end up being left at the yard doing the computer work most of the time. I could have applied for cyber crimes if I wanted to work like that," Tim said frustrated.

"If he tried that then you'd need to leave too," Tony said.

"I applied for a transfer, even stated that I'd be willing to leave the navy yard and take a lateral transfer knowing that I would probably have to restart my probationary period. Director Vance turned me down," Tim admitted.

"I'm sorry Tim, if I'd known you were going to do that I would've held off on my resignation so he wouldn't have a reason to refuse you," Tony said.

"You're not the reason he refused. Well, your resignation isn't anyway, he refused me before there was any gossip about you resigning to take the job on the FBI IRT. I knew I was one of the reasons you were hesitating and I didn't want you to give up what might be your dream job for me. Problem is that I think Director Vance also realised that without me on the team you wouldn't stay either. He appointed a new probie to Okinawa who barely speaks minimal Japanese even though I reminded him that I went to school there for several years and am fluent in the language and culture."

"You know, with a couple of years more experience the IRT might be perfect for you too," Tony said grinning. "If you applied to the FBI we might end up on the same team again one day. Vance turned me down for a transfer as well. I think he knows nobody else will be willing to work with Gibbs."

Tim laughed. "I'm going to put in my transfer application again. With you gone he doesn't have a reason to try to keep the MCRT together, so it might be more successful. If he turns it down again and we don't get a new SFA within the next fortnight I will apply to transfer agencies."

"I'll put the word out for you, that you're interested, I might even be able to catch up with Morrow and see what Homeland's got to offer you," Tony promised.

"I could put in a good word for you at the NSA if you'd like but it wouldn't be a field agent position," Spencer said.

"The rumours that they're considering him might help others take interest though," Tony pointed out. "If nothing else they'll piss off Gibbs and Vance. That he let such an asset slip through his fingers."

Tim laughed, "As long as it doesn't piss him off too much more before I get out of there," he said, admitting for the first time that he'd definitely be leaving the MCRT.

"Vance was confirmed as the new Director yesterday," Tony said.

Tim pulled a face. "He can't stand up to Gibbs, I think the main reason he wouldn't transfer me is because Gibbs doesn't want us to leave. Does that mean Director Sheppard has been demoted?"

"Not demoted. Fired and rumours are that she's been put on a watch list never to be offered a position in any government agency ever again," Tony said.

"And Gibbs still believes he can bring her back?" Tim asked incredulously.

"Well she hasn't been arrested," Tony said facetiously.

Tim chuckled. "Have you heard what she's going to do?"

"No idea. It's none of our business. The investigators believed she was duped by Ziva, they cleared her of treason, she lost her job for breaking so many rules to get her friend onto the MCRT without the necessary training let alone citizenship. Whether she meant to or not she opened up the agency to Mossad infiltration, her judgement will never be trusted by anyone again."

-o0o-

"You're worried about Spencer returning to the BAU aren't you?" Tim asked Tony as they walked to their cars.

"As worried about him as he is about us remaining on Gibbs' team," Tony admitted. "But there's nothing I can do about it, other than support him where I can. He's made his decision."

"He says they're his family," Tim said.

"Yeah and we all know that there are plenty of very dysfunctional families out there," Tony replied sighing. "I'm worried that it's a bit like my relationship with Senior. No matter how many times he's let me down I keep hoping things will change and he'll become the father I've always wanted. My head knows it's never going to happen but my heart won't let me cut my losses and break off all ties with him."

"You think Spencer will let them hurt him again?" Tim asked.

"I don't think he's stopped being hurt by them from last time. He doesn't trust as easily and he holds himself aloof from the IRT in spite of saying he likes all of them. I think he's waiting for the other shoe to drop with his relationship as well. He expects to be betrayed," Tony said.

"He hasn't been like that with us," Tim said.

"He trusted me before this all blew up and I supported him through it. He trusts you because I trust you," Tony replied.

"All we can do is keep an eye on him and be there when he needs us," Tim said.

"And not let him keep things from us and pretend things are fine with him," Tony said fiercely.

-o0o-

"I'm surprised you weren't more upset that Reid's came back instead of the team hiring your agent Mr Gorgeous," Emily teased.

Ashley Seaver blushed scarlet. "Ho ho, what's going on. Seaver looks ready to hide under the table," Morgan called teasingly across the room.

"You found out who your Mr Gorgeous is?" Emily asked eagerly. "Spill!"

"Whatever you are talking about, I think Agent Seaver would rather you leave the subject alone and got back to work," Spencer said without looking up.

Seaver blushed even more if that was possible.

"Seaver has a crush on this guy who visited Hotch a couple of weeks ago. She was hoping he would be the new agent on the team," Emily said to fill Reid in.

"Oh! Sorry to disappoint you Agent Seaver," Spencer said distantly continuing to write in the file he was working on. Internally though he frowned, he'd hoped as the one person on the team who hadn't betrayed him last time he could establish some trust with her. The news that even she didn't actually want him on the team was a blow.

"That's alright Dr Reid, you didn't disappoint me," Ashley said still blushing fiercely.

"Reid was the guy you thought could've been a hot supermodel?" Emily asked incredulously.

"Um yeah" Ashley whispered.

Morgan hooted with laughter. Spencer ignored the whole conversation happening in front of him.

"Weren't you listening Reid? Ashley Seaver thinks you're both gorgeous and hot," Emily said smiling at him encouragingly.

"So does my girlfriend," Spencer said dismissively. "Sorry Seaver." He wasn't at all interested in the younger agent, even if he'd been single he would have avoided getting involved with someone on the team, particularly someone who'd been on the team while he was away and already had close ties to Morgan, Garcia, Emily and JJ.

"You have a girlfriend?" Morgan asked surprised.

Spencer just looked at him daring him to insult him with his disbelief.

"When are we going to meet her?" Garcia asked.

"You're not, not as long as I can prevent it. And Garcia, Hotch asked me to remind you that you will be fired if you use Bureau assets to snoop into my personal life and he will have you transferred away from the BAU to a location of my choosing, probably to the Seattle office since there isn't a position that would use your skills effectively in Anchorage, if you try to invade my privacy and destroy my trust again," Spencer said bluntly. He didn't tell her that after Tim had finished laughing his ass off over the story of what happened when Garcia hacked into his bank transaction record and the stores video feeds to find Tony and then set off all the alarms at NCIS trying to investigate him, he had set himself, Tony and Spencer up with a series of hard to detect warning traps if anyone tried to investigate him or his girlfriend. Garcia was amazingly good at finding information, but Tim was better at programming and his alert programs were something totally new and almost impossible to detect.

Garcia looked Spencer in the eyes and saw he was entirely serious, she had believed they had got past what happened when she first met Tony DiNozzo but it seemed that Spencer's trust in all of them was now very fragile, he was done being hurt by this team and he would retaliate with all the tools he had available.

She wondered if they'd ever get past it, and whether he would stay with the team, or move on again to bigger and brighter things. Only time would tell.

A/N: Thank you to Locket1, ahowell1993, knuckles 8, reader1writer1, Guest, Criminal Minds Queen, Village-Mystic, Reader Ethiriel, erik (Guest), Firesong23, Rori Potter, delia cerrano, DS2010, mworth1019, Guest, tlcroft, Astrahan, Guest, WolfishPennings, .Jynger, patrick k (Guest), MayaHikari, erik (Guest), Guest, FriskyDragon, snipescougar, OnceUponATimeBelle, leahk80, BlackRose8750, luramos, Noooo Aime and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"Hey Spencer, sorry I'm late!" Tony said as he dropped into his seat at the little bistro he'd arranged to meet his friend at.

"Don't worry, I've only just got here myself," Spencer said looking up and smiling at his friend. "Are you in the middle of a case? We could have put this off," he added seeing how tired the older agent looked and the uncharacteristically less than immaculate state of his clothing.

"No the case wrapped up this morning and we have the rest of the weekend off, and then I only have three more days to finish working out my notice," Tony replied, coughing slightly.

"It really doesn't make sense for Vance to demand you work out your four weeks' notice under the circumstances. You have more than enough leave and comp time that they're going to have to pay you out anyway and the team was already broken up, you shouldn't be out in the field with Gibbs after all that's happened between you. Are you okay. Have you seen a doctor? And no, before you say it, Ducky doesn't count," Spencer asked concerned.

"I had an appointment this morning with Brad, my pulmonary specialist, which is why I'm late," Tony admitted. "I ended up in the river to rescue Gibbs and our victim. I overstressed my lungs a but getting them out of the car."

"And there was nobody else to do it? Where was McGee? Tony you have to pass your FBI physical next week," Spencer said anxiously. He was tempted to tell Tony that he should have left the old bastard drown but he knew that he wouldn't have been able to do it either if there was nobody else that could save him.

"Don't worry, Brad's got me on a broad spectrum antibiotic and some asthma preventative. He's also got me doing our old exercises. I'll be fine by Wednesday," Tony said calmly. "Now tell me how is it going back with your old team. Do you want your IRT position back again yet?"

"No, even if it doesn't work with Hotch's team I'd stay with the BAU," Spencer replied. "Both the other team leaders have let me know that their teams would welcome me if I want to transfer and the AD assured me I only have to ask for the paperwork at any time. You should take the last three days as sick leave to make sure you can concentrate on your lung exercises."

"That's the coward's way out, I can't do that. Do you think you'll consider swapping teams?" Tony asked.

"I don't want to swap teams, I get along okay with most of them but it would feel like I was admitting defeat, taking the easy way out. I'm really enjoying working with Hotch again. Emily and JJ have made an effort to be friendly but are respecting my need to keep things professional during work hours, and not socialise other than with JJ and Will when I'm visiting Henry. Garcia is naturally still trying to be overly nosy but Tim's safeguards haven't been triggered so she's obeying Hotch's embargo on cyber stalking so far. She doesn't understand that I still feel hurt and betrayed by her actions and thinks I should've forgiven her by now if she thinks about it at all, and I believe her nosiness and interference are more her default personality than a deliberate choice. Morgan is still angry about me leaving but he isn't trying to prank me like he used to, he mostly avoids talking to me at all," Spencer said.

"Has he been trying to pass his work off on you?" Tony asked.

Spencer gave a wicked grin, "He did at first but Hotch wasn't bluffing when he said they'd restructured our payments for time in the office, I did forty percent of his consults in the first week and received about forty percent of his pay for those two days we weren't in the field. He just about went through the roof when he got his payslip but Hotch just reminded him that he'd been warned and said he was lucky the Bureau weren't going back and reclaiming all the money he'd been paid for work he hadn't done over the years since he assumed my doing forty percent of his work was pretty much standard for a day in the office. Then he threatened that they might do that if he put in a formal complaint about his change in pay. You should have seen his face."

Tony laughed.

"Did he exact retribution?" he said concerned once he'd stopped being amused long enough to think of the consequences.

"Not yet, though he's been careful not to let me do his work again and doing his own work is keeping him busy. I don't mind that he's not being friendly, I wouldn't trust him if he was, and I get more work done without his distracting me," Spencer said.

"You said not yet, meaning you do expect him to get revenge for it at some time in the future?" Tony said perceptively.

"He will eventually, when he thinks he can get away with it, he resents the changes and the way his behaviour is being scrutinised. He's also pissed that he isn't allowed to call me pretty boy or kid anymore. I can almost hear him pull himself up from saying it every time he speaks to me," Spencer said. "And that Hotch always introduces me as SSA Dr Reid these days so I get more respect from the LEOs."

"You should always have had that respect Spence, you should never have been made to look like less than a fully qualified agent," Tony said gently.

Spencer didn't respond, and Tony wished his friend had a better opinion of his worth.

"What about Rossi? You haven't mentioned him," Tony said.

Spencer shrugged. "There's really nothing to tell, we weren't close before and we're still not, there's no real change in our relationship. I don't think he likes me all that much on a personal level but he doesn't resent me for taking a break, after all he's done it himself. Professionally we work well together as much as we ever did and he's trying not to call me kid. I trust him to have my back in the field if required, just not to put my comfort above his convenience."

Tony nodded. "And that's enough for you?" he asked.

"Yeah he's not much of a team player, I guess he's got closer to the others over the last six months but I trust him to have my back in the field and not to backstab me with the team, it's not like I want or need to socialise with him," Spencer said. "And he took me seriously when I told him that if he ever forces me to risk reinjuring myself to protect his fine Italian leather shows again he will seriously regret it."

Tony smiled, "So you're happy then?" he asked.

"Yeah I think I can be happy being back on the team. And Ingrid likes that I'm not away for as long each time and I'm usually contactable by telephone if she needs me," Spencer said smiling.

"Has she been ringing and harassing you?" Tony asked laughing.

"No, she's cool. She texts most nights and I try to ring back if we finish early enough," Spencer replied. "She understands that sometimes the case is so urgent we barely stop to eat and sleep let alone find time for personal calls."

"Sounds like you lucked out with that one," Tony said remembering how many dates he'd had that had been angry or resentful when he'd had to cancel because a case came up.

"Yes," Spencer said smiling.

"How are things with you?" Spencer asked.

"Tim's finally been offered a transfer, he's leaving for Okinawa at the end of the month. The junior agent they originally appointed has been sent back to Washington for further training in cultural sensitivity, the scuttlebutt is he insulted some serious dignitaries, and I don't think Vance was game to send another agent who doesn't know the language and culture however much he wanted to keep Tim on the MCRT," Tony said.

"That must be a relief to you, knowing that he will be out of Gibbs control, but I was asking how you were, other than your lungs which I already know aren't doing well."

"Yes well I'm lucky that Garrett and his team are already used to dealing with the limitations of your lungs. I warned him mine are slightly worse but he didn't think it would be too much of a problem so long as we don't get a case up the peaks of Nepal."

Spencer laughed, "I don't think any of them are fit enough to cope with the upper levels of Everest without months of specific training," he said.

"Did you have problems with your lungs anywhere?" Tony asked.

"South America, up in the mountains with the cold, damp and rain," Spencer replied. "And conversely the dust in Egypt when the wind began to blow, though a decent face mask helped with that one. And of course, cold and flu season is always a problem everywhere. Keep an eye on that, remember flu season is June to September in the southern hemisphere."

"Yeah, I felt like a real hypochondriac wearing a mask in the bullpen last winter," Tony agreed.

"Me too, but it was worth it not to get sick. I almost considered asking Tim for some lessons so I could do consults on line from home," Spencer said laughing.

"I'm sure if you asked the director they would courier files over to you," Tony suggested.

"Strauss definitely would and Hotch would agree," Spencer said smiling.

-o0o-

"I got the position in Okinawa," Tim exclaimed excitedly to Spencer when the three of them met up the next day. "I start in two weeks."

"I thought they'd given that to someone else?" Spencer said pretending that Tony hadn't already told him.

"They did. Apparently, he screwed up protocol so badly that the SAIC sent him back to America and demanded that they send a replacement that at least knew and would respect Japanese culture and were prepared to learn Japanese. It will be a junior Agent position so it's a promotion too."

"Didn't you say it was a probationary position?" Spencer said confused.

"Yeah but their junior agent has just resigned so they're getting a TAD who doesn't speak Japanese and I'm being sent now as the probationary agent until the next class graduates from FLETC in three months and I'll be promoted to junior and they'll be assigned a new permanent probie. There's a couple of Japanese Americans at FLETC in this class so hopefully we'll get one of them," Tim explained.

"Good going Tim you're more than ready for the promotion, you may not have had the recognition from Sheppard but you've been pretty much working at the junior agent level since I was out with plague," Tony said pleased for his subordinate.

"Are you looking forward to living in Japan?" Spencer asked.

"Yes, I enjoyed living there when Dad was stationed there, and I still have some old schoolfriends I kept in touch with there," Tim said smiling. "There's something about the formality of their society I find reassuring and there's a large American community there too. Part of me will miss being on the MCRT but it will be a nice change of pace to not always dealing with murderers and terrorists."

"You'll be bored in a week, dealing with petty theft and AWOLs who got a little too lit up on their shore leave to return to their stations on time," Tony teased.

"Smaller crimes will mean limited overtime, plenty of time to establish a social life," Tim retorted.

"Have you been brushing up on your Japanese?" Spencer asked.

"Yes, I kept up with the informal language well enough through letters and Skype calls with friends but my formal language was a little rusty and I wouldn't want to offend anyone by using inappropriate familiarity," Tim said. "Do you speak Japanese?"

"Not fluently," Spencer replied. "I can read the formal language."

"We should get Japanese food to celebrate," Tony said enthusiastically.

"No. We should eat American foods, things Tim won't get again until he comes home on leave,"

Spencer countered. "Let Tim choose what he wants to eat."

Tony saw the sense in that and got Tim to make a list of all the foods he wanted to eat one more time before moving to Japan, teasing him when he didn't put McDonalds on the list.

"They do have Big Macs in other countries Tony," Spencer said amused. "They even taste pretty much the same. I'd recommend that he tries to avoid eating McDonalds here before he goes so his tastebuds have the opportunity to forget a little what it tastes like."

"It will be fine Spencer, I remember eating McDonalds in Japan as a kid when one of us got homesick for American food, it's close enough and will be familiar," Tim replied. "Did you eat a lot of McDonalds when you were with the IRT?"

"No, never, it was hard enough finding somewhere that sold decent coffee in a lot of places, we try to always eat the local food if it was safe to, it's just one more small way of trying to blend in and not seem like arrogant Americans," Spencer said. "Tony's going to enjoy that part of travelling with the team, the team are good at sussing out decent places to eat in any country."

Tony smiled, "After some of your stories I'm really looking forward to it."

-o0o-

Tony passed his physical by the skin of his teeth, and only because of the letter Dr Brad Pitt had written explaining that he had an acute infection from diving into contaminated and freezing water to successfully save two people on top of the normal damage to his lungs. He joined the IRT and was made welcome by the team. They all missed Spencer but said that anyone recommended to them was a welcome addition. Tony had been worried that his lack of profiler training and additional languages other than Italian and Spanish would let him down but Mac explained that having Spencer seconded to them had been like a gift from the gods and they didn't expect him to take his place. The agent before Spencer hadn't been a trained profiler and any detective as good as both Spencer and his other references said he was had the skills needed for the job. Tony was also pleased to hear that none of them resented Spencer for going back to the BAU even though they didn't fully understand his decision they were prepared to support him as much as possible and Mac had already made sure that Spencer knew that just because they had replaced him didn't mean they wouldn't make a new position for him if he ever wanted to return at some point in the future, and didn't mean he wasn't part of the IRT family and more than welcome at any and all team social events.

Spencer had prepared a folder for him with the specific cultural differences of every country he had visited in his time on the IRT, what to do and what to avoid to promote acceptance of the team among the local LEO's and community, which really helped. The others had seen the value of having such a resource for new agents or as a refresher for them all and had continued adding to it since he left.

Spencer had also privately provided Tony with a profile of each member of the team, hoping it would increase Tony's understanding of their reactions to certain situations and incidents and his willingness to trust them. This helped Tony get to know them and play up some of the things they had in common as they got to know him.

-o0o-

Tim had flown out to Japan and spoke with Tony every night that he were in DC and free to take his calls, which turned out to be once or twice a week. He took to calling Spencer the nights that he was free to talk as well, which wasn't any more often and the three of them group chatted if they were all available. Tim seemed to be enjoying Japan and was staying with friends until an apartment became available on base. He had thought that he would prefer to live off base but the rents were a little too high for him even with his relocation bonus and an expected pay rise when he was promoted in a few months. He described meeting his new team to them and sounded quite positive

Tim 's new boss was grateful to hear that he not only had learned the language but had lived in Japan for several years even though he had attended the American Highschool on base while he was there he wasn't one of those dependents who spent all of their time on base and didn't really experience the culture of the country they were in.

The SFA who was Japanese American quickly explained to him that it was okay to use the casual language with the team leader when they were alone in the bullpen or out at a crime scene but that he should always use the more formal modes of address in front of witnesses and suspects. "As for the rest it would be best if you took your cue from the boss or I in each situation, when it comes to suspects too much formality can be as damaging to getting answers as too little. It will be a while before we have you start interrogations, but we tend to tag team them more often that they do at home, sometimes we deliberately will use the wrong level of familiarity and then have to tag team someone else in" he instructed.

Tim nodded and grinned. "I understand. I don't have a huge amount of experience with interrogations as both my Team Leader and my SFA for the last several years were so good at it, but I've seen some really impressive displays and my friend Spencer showed me some tapes of hoe the BAU interrogate suspects too."

"I hear your specialty is computers and online investigating," the SFA said.

"I'm good at that but I was allocated to the team to be a field agent, not technical support," Tim replied determined to have it made clear from the outset.

"Understood. Our forensic tech is good with processing evidence but has no hacking or computer searching skills so we tend to outsource a lot of our computer searches to the cyber team stationed here, but they're not always available. I will expect you to take over those when they don't have the resources to assist us," the team leader said.

"Of course Sir, as long as it doesn't become a habit to leave me here to do the searches while the rest of the team is in the field," Tim agreed with reservations.

"Okay, but I'll put you in charge of teaching our new probie to do the searches when they arrive since it isn't a strength of either of ours. You want to be free from having to do it all the time you need to make sure they're capable of doing it instead." the team leader said nodding to his newest agent.

"Yes Sir," Tim said enthusiastically.

-o0o-

Spencer rarely complained to Tony and Tim about his team, knowing that they both would've preferred that he didn't go back to the BAU. Instead he spoke about cases and the local LEOs he encountered, and how well things were going with his lecturing and classes for his new PhD and how well his relationship with Ingrid was going. He did mention that nobody, mostly meaning Morgan, had tried to prank him since he came back and that everybody was now doing all of their own consults when they had office days. He mentioned that he and Hotch had continued their friendship and he often met up with Hotch and Jack when he took Henry out for the day when Ingrid wasn't available and that Hotch had attended some lectures on abnormal psychology with him as well.

Spencer did express to Tony, though not to Tim some of his reservations about having a probationary officer on the BAU team and how the others often treated her like a full team member even though it was clear she would benefit from more mentoring and supervision than she usually received and his frustration when the others interfered to prevent him from trying to provide what she needed.

"Why are they interfering? Do they think she doesn't need the supervision or are they just so used to treating you as the junior member of the team that they don't see you as being able to provide it?" Tony asked concerned.

"I think it might be a little of both. If they were stepping in and providing the supervision and mentoring instead of me I'd be annoyed but not concerned for her. But I don't think that any of them are. Hotch and Rossi supervise her at times but the others treat her like an equal," Spencer replied.

"Maybe they're overcompensating after being in trouble for treating you too much like a probationary agent when you weren't," Tony suggested.

"Perhaps," Spencer agreed frowning. "But they're not doing her any favours. She can't learn the things she needs to learn until she learns to notice what it is she doesn't know."

"Is she trying to learn, or does she assume she already knows the things you're trying to teach her?" Tony asked. "What's she like."

"She isn't arrogant and assuming that she knows everything, like Ziva did with investigating but she also doesn't ask for advice or assistance," Spencer replied.

"Do you think the others have discouraged her from asking you for assistance for some reason?" Tony asked.

"I don't think they would have but they were teasing me the day I got back that she thought I was hot and had been calling me Mr Gorgeous before she found out who I was," Spencer replied frowning. "I don't know if that would make her reluctant to approach me but I haven't seen her ask anyone else either."

"It might make her awkward with you and reluctant to admit when she doesn't know something that she thinks she should know, particularly if the team was telling the truth and she is attracted to you. Have you tried talking to Hotch about your concerns?" Tony said gently.

"I wasn't sure if I should. Maybe I'm just being too sensitive, I don't want him thinking I'm questioning the way he runs the team, and I don't want to make an enemy out of Seaver," Spencer said hesitantly.

"You have valid concerns Spence, otherwise it wouldn't be worrying you enough to bring it up. If I were you I'd talk to Hotch. Seaver shouldn't take offence at you encouraging the others to follow protocol and you never know, she might actually be wanting more supervision and embarrassed to ask for it," Tony encouraged.

"Thanks Tony. I will," Spencer replied smiling at his friend's support.

A/N: Thank you to ahowell1993, knuckles 8, Rori Potter, .Jynger, luramos, Locket1, Guest, Rainbow2007, Astrahan, Avirra, DS2010, Criminal Minds Queen, Erik (Guest), Guest, serenityselena, Firesong23, Village-Mystic, Cokeheller, Beloved Daughter, Guest, mooneysfate, tlcroft, leahk80, ladytokyo, Bronkwin2, Irene (Guest), Sona14, Scififan33, Lyrasloon, Guest, Kris (Guest), Guest, BeautifulCherryBlossom, yoruichi14, Erimenthe, Silver1 (Guest), IntellectualBadass333 and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"Can we talk about work for a moment?" Spencer asked Hotch after he came back into the lounge after putting Jack to bed after an evening at a children's science expo.

"Yeah, if you need. Is there a problem?" Hotch asked concerned.

"I'm concerned about the lack of supervision Seaver gets unless she's with you and Rossi. I expected her to spend most of her time with one of you but she doesn't. She spends most of her time with Prentiss but Prentiss and the others all treat her as a full member of the team. Including letting her speak to witnesses unsupervised. If one of those witnesses turns out to be the unsub anything he previously said to Seaver could be thrown out of court."

"I'll keep and eye on it and speak to the others if necessary. Emily is supposed to be her training officer, I'll remind her of the rules and regulations. Thanks for bringing this to my attention," Hotch said.

Spencer nodded and changed the subject, happy to let Hotch take care of it. Hopefully the others wouldn't realise that he'd said anything. They spent the rest of the evening discussing a museum exhibit Spencer wanted to take Ingrid to see and debating whether it would be interesting and appropriate for a young boy.

-o0o-

Hotch spoke to Emily and reminded her that she had asked to be Ashley's training agent and had accepted the duties that entailed. He reminded her that if a case was thrown out because of Ashley's actions and lack of supervision. The responsibility would fall onto her training agent.

Emily resented her decisions being questioned like that but had to accept that Hotch had a valid point and he'd threatened to have Seaver reassigned if she didn't start supervising her properly.

Seaver also resented suddenly being treated like a newbie again, and started trying even harder to prove herself a valuable member of the team. Rossi pulled her aside and tried to tell her that she was trying too hard and that it was unnecessary, that the supervision she was receiving was just one of the requirements of being a probationary agent and what she should always have had.

"Emily trusted me to be more than a probationary agent. What changed?" Ashley asked still upset.

"She was reminded of the consequences of ignoring the regulations," Rossi said. "I understand that you're confused and upset but you didn't do anything wrong, this is just the way it was supposed to be. Remember that you asked to complete your probationary year with the BAU. If you no longer feel this is in your best interests you can ask to be reassigned somewhere you will need less supervision." Rossi was angry that this situation has arisen, but he had to admit that he was mostly angry with himself. He'd had probationary agents before and he should have picked up on Seaver not getting the supervision and mentoring that she should have. Instead it took Reid arriving into the situation as an outsider to see what they'd all overlooked.

Cases came and went, and Seaver started to accept the new normal. She never realised why the team dynamics had suddenly changed but after someone had left the probationary and mentoring handbook on her desk she took the hint and stopped fighting it. Emily started to get used to the amount of time supervising and mentoring Seaver took, and finally realised why Hotch had said that he didn't have time to be her training agent when she had asked to bring the probationer into the team.

-o0o-

He'd been back at the BAU four months and Spencer thought he was settled back into the team well enough. He still wasn't socialising with any of them except Hotch and occasionally JJ as a result of his time with his godson. Unlike before he was now more aware of being lonely when they were away on a case than he was at home in DC, between meeting up with Tony when he was in town, Skyping with Tim and of course his girlfriend Ingrid and their friends his social life was better than it had ever been. He missed the trust he'd had in the team and the feeling of almost being a family that he'd had back before he'd been shot in the knee but rationalised to himself that he was better off with the more honest work relationships he had with his colleagues now.

He walked into work cheerfully and was met by JJ calling him up the stairs to the meeting room.

He took his seat, nobody said anything about him being the last to arrive, though glancing at his watch he saw that he hadn't actually been late.

"We're headed to downtown Los Angeles, each of these four women went missing 24 hours before their bodies were found. Emika Sakaguchi was found on the 24th of June, Kazuno Nishikawa on the 20th of July, Natsuyo Suitani on the 16th of August, and Kimiyo "Kim" Sato last week. They were strangled with a ligature, probably a leather belt. There are signs of recent sexual activity on each of them but no DNA evidence was left on the bodies, but the injuries suggest it was probably consensual though there were minor injuries, and they've obviously been redressed post mortem." JJ presented the case.

"A Japanese serial killer," Rossi commented. "That's new. We haven't come across one before."

"Unless it's transference, all these women look alike," Seaver suggested.

Sex crimes rarely cross racial lines," Morgan said.

"They don't look that much alike other than all being Japanese," Spencer corrected her absently. They age range from late teens to early thirties, height varies from 4'11" to 5'6" weight from 95 to 140 pounds. They wouldn't look alike to a Japanese unsub, or to anyone who knew them. They come from different social classes one is married, one dating and the other two single. One is a full time mother, one a stock broker, one a student who works part time as a waitress and the fourth is a high end sex worker. Other than their nationality the police haven't found a common denominator. Though there is one thing I noticed, the statements made by their friends and colleagues referred to the victims by an anglicized nickname. Emika was called Emma, Kazuno was called Kaz, more commonly a nickname for Karen, Natsuyo was shortened to Nat, a common shortening of Natasha or Natalie, and Kimiyo chose to be called Kim. I don't know how usual that is, or if it is significant."

"They look the same enough to a white person who doesn't know them," Seaver argued, ignoring the nicknames.

"It wouldn't be difficult to find a dozen Japanese women who look more like each victim than these other three do, even in LA," Spencer retorted.

"To someone who isn't looking closely they are superficially alike, so this could be a hate crime but the differences are significant, there are probably a great many women in LA that look more like the first victim than the other three did, this isn't transference," Hotch agreed with Spencer.

"Do you speak Japanese or did you ever work a case in Japan when you were on the IRT?" Emily asked.

"We never worked a case there, though right now I wish I did. I speak a little Japanese though not fluently, I can read the older and more formal version of their language, but haven't learnt the modern form most frequently in daily spoken use," Spencer said pulling his phone out and sending a text to someone.

"Are you trying to contact Garrett? Good idea, maybe he or one of the team would have some insight," Hotch asked.

"Unfortunately, that's not possible, even if the team wasn't well out of radio contact, they're working on a time sensitive series of kidnappings for ransom," Spencer replied. "I'm calling a friend who works for NCIS on the American naval base in Japan.

"I have a Japanese friend, he might be able to tell me more about cultural killings," Emily said calling someone on her phone. "His father was the Japanese ambassador in Azerbaijan at the same time as my mother was there. He's working in Tokyo now."

"I think the victims are not so much Japanese as they are Japanese-American, it's possible the unsub is too," Spencer added.

"Is there a difference?" Morgan asked.

"Probably as much of a difference between being Italian-American and being brought up in Italy," Rossi said nodding in understanding.

"If not more, depending on when his family emigrated. The Italians weren't forced to Americanise and cut ties with their homeland to avoid being interred during the Second World War," Spencer replied sombrely. "And LA's on the west coast, any Japanese citizens t living there would have had to either leave their homes and head east with little warning or would have been arrested and interred. Those that were sent to the internment camps were only allowed to bring what they could carry and were focused more on day to day survival than maintaining their heritage so a lot of their history and traditions were lost as well, others focused strongly on the small parts of their heritage that they could hold onto and warped the rest into idealised memories of their culture."

"What are you talking about?" Seaver asked, Emily also looked a little lost.

"The Japanese American internment camps during World War II. 127,000 Americans of Japanese descent, mostly from the western states, were incarcerated by the government from 1942 to 1945," Spencer replied, surprised that she hadn't learned about them in high school.

Tim rang him before he could express his surprise

-o0o-

"Hey Tim. Thanks for calling me back," Spencer said.

"Are you working with the IRT again, do they have a crime with links to the Navy?" Tim asked.

"No, I'm with the BAU and there's definitely no hints of naval involvement, but I could use your help anyway. It's more of an informal favour than something official though so please tell me if you don't have the time to talk now. We're heading to Los Angeles, we have a serial, sexually motivated murderer whose victims are all Japanese women and I wondered if you had any cultural insights we should be aware of," Spencer asked.

"I'm working cold cases at the moment so I've got plenty of time to help you out," Tim said sending a quick message to his team leader and SFA to let them know what he was doing and for their insights as well.

"There have been no recorded serial killers in Japan and unfortunately the percentage of rapes reported by Japanese women are estimated to be half that of the western world," Spencer said.

"Yes the reported rates of all crimes of violence against women are lower than in the western world, though I think that's probably more a difference in the percentage reported than the actual number of sexual assaults. This is a very male dominant society," Tim reported. He thought for a moment before continuing.

"Deviance would be harder to spot here in the Japanese population, strict adherence to public manners and public conformity is trained into Japanese children from a very young age as is hard work and a level of business competitiveness that borders on ruthlessness. Their traditions and culture dictate their public behaviour, even the psychopaths and sociopaths in their society will be able to mimic expected behaviour most of the time because the rules are so much clearer than western society. But Americans of Japanese descent are nowhere near as rigidly formal so I would expect that your unsub would mostly behave much more like any other American if his family have been there more than the one generation."

Spencer laughed ruefully. "Great, just what we need, a culture that actually trains people to hide the behaviours we're looking for."

"Sorry I wasn't more help," Tim replied.

"Oh it was far more help than you realise, it just means the signs we're looking for will be smaller and better hidden, we might have overlooked something important without your insights, thanks Tim," Spencer said. "We must catch up again properly soon. I'll call you when I'm off next and hopefully we'll be able to set up a group skype with Tony next time none of us have a case."

"Have you heard from Tony?" Tim asked.

"Not for several days the IRT is chasing kidnappers for profit in Azerbaijan," Spencer replied.

"Oh God, text me as soon as you hear from him that he's okay or know he's back?" Tim pleaded anxiously.

"Will do, bye Tim," Spencer rang off.

"I hope that was a secure line," Hotch commented.

"Very, Tim made sure Tony and I always have a secure line to contact him," Spencer replied.

Emily came back in, "I got through to my friend but he didn't have any insights for me, both serial murder and rapes are virtually unknown in his experience of Japanese society," Emily replied.

"That ties in with what Tim said. There society is traditionally very male dominated and they are decades behind us in the treatment of rape victims, so the percentages of rapes reported is much lower in their society than western societies," Spencer said.

"Did your friend have any other insights for us?" Hotch asked.

"Unfortunately yes, and you're not going to like them! Traditionally, manners and outwardly conforming to expectations are expected of all members of their society and rigidly trained into them from a very young age. An unsub would be much harder to spot from their public behaviour and not all people whose public behaviour and attitudes seem forced actually have something criminal to hide. He also said that Japanese women even in modern times are very submissive to their bosses, teachers and elders and even their husbands in public, they are encouraged not to be outspoken. Even though they may in many cases rule the roost at home, they'd do so in a way that only a close friend would notice which means Japanese men expect a significant level of subservience from most if not all women they meet," Spencer reported. "He wasn't sure how much of that will be relevant to American raised people of Japanese descent."

Emily frowned that Spencer's contact had been more useful than her friend. Her multicultural background was normally one of her strengths when it came to interpreting behaviour. In the past nobody would've even bothered to ask Spencer if he knew anyone, she was coming to realise that his time on the IRT had changed more than just his confidence. "Who is Tim?" she asked curiously.

"NCIS Agent Tim McGee, I met him through my friend Tony when he was working at the naval yard. He's on the international crimes team at the Far East Field Office in Yokosuka, Japan. He's an American of Irish descent but he was a Navy brat and spent several years living in Japan as a teenager when his father was stationed there and unlike a lot of other Navy brats he didn't spend all his time on base but took the opportunity to get to know the Japanese language and culture well. He worked on the MCRT with Tony before this so he's also had some experience with serial crimes, and I thought his insight could be valuable," Spencer explained.

"It was," Rossi agreed.

"Wheels up in 30," Hotch ordered dismissing the group.

-o0o-

"You got lots of fancy friends these days Reid," Morgan commented, only just remembering to avoid nicknames.

"I met him through Tony, when he asked me to profile his team, he thought there was a mole selling secrets and wanted to see if I could tell him who had been compromised by the mole and who could be trusted to help him with an off the books investigation. And I will warn you that Tim is the one that set up the firewall and monitoring software that got you caught when Garcia tried to snoop into my life electronically last time, so don't ask her to look him up. Another interagency mess will cost you both your careers. Tim was Tony's probie before Tony transferred to the IRT, the only relationship he managed to salvage from the disaster that was Mossad officer Ziva David's liaison position on the team," Spencer replied. "Tony feels responsible for him and asked me to be available if he needs some external support while Tony's out of contact. Tony and I both learned the hard way that it's good to have a form of support available outside your own team no matter how close you think the team is."

Morgan accepted the dig and returned to gathering his gear slightly resentfully. 

"Well he was certainly more use than my Japanese friend," Emily replied ruefully.

"In spite of his diplomatic background, your friend is a civilian. If you asked an average American civilian about the traits of our society that help hide serial killers they wouldn't be able to tell you either. Tim used to work on the MCRT so he's come across a few serial killers and even more serial sex crimes in his time there," Spencer said reasonably.

"Are there traits that hide psychopaths in our society?" Seaver asked curiously.

"Yes there would be some in every culture, in America it's the isolationism and the fact that in most cities adults no longer bother to get to know their neighbours and even in small towns there are people who don't join in the community and nobody thinks twice about it, or at least they don't see it as a reason to distrust the people. Many other countries have much more extensive extended families and close knit communities who are up in each other's lives all the time and people tend to move around less, so a deviant or psychopath stands out more, people talk and everyone knows who to be wary of," Spencer replied. "It doesn't necessarily mean they're more likely to actually be caught. The advantages are offset by the fact that most countries haven't studied serial crimes the way America has and many local LEO's in those countries believe that serial killers are a western phenomenon, largely brought about by the decline in family values, so they don't recognise the warning signs and when serial crimes happen they're slower to recognise it and then start investigation by looking for foreigners and outsiders."

-o0o-

They arrived in LA and immediately set to work, several of the local LEO's greeted the team familiarly, pleased to see them. Hotch sent Morgan and Seaver out to look at the dump sites while Emily and JJ started interviewing the victims' family and friends, he and Rossi checked out the abduction sites and Spencer set up the conference room and met with the coroner.

"The cause of death was ligature strangulation, probably a belt an inch and a half thick, no trace evidence unfortunately. They all had signs of recent rough sexual activity but no DNA and the injuries were inconclusive for rape. Injuries like this usually indicate the night started out as consensual however it may have ended up," The coroner reported sliding out the newest body for Spencer to see for himself.

"This is the fifth, he's perfecting his technique by now, any differences with the earlier women?"

Spencer asked.

"Yes. There's something with the first one," the coroner said thoughtfully. "She has the same cause of death, ligature strangulation and it appears to be the same belt as the others, but under that there's some perimortem bruising that isn't present in the later victims." He pulled her out of the freezer and uncovered her neck.

"It wasn't evident at first examination, I didn't notice them until I was sewing her back up," The coroner said. "I tested for prints but I'm afraid it was too late. I'm sorry."

"Can't be helped now, and as you said there was no reason to look for prints before the post mortem," Spencer said holding his hand up to the bruising, "Slightly smaller hands than me but still fairly large men's hands, unusually large for a Japanese man. Any other differences with this one?"

"Not forensically, she was clean of all trace, but look at her nails, all the others were perfectly manicured, she looks like someone ripped her false nails off. There's no inflammation so it could've been done either several hours before death or post mortem."

"Trace on the hands, alcohol swabs, soap?" Spencer asked.

"Nothing that we noticed, just the nail glue left on the nails," the coroner replied.

"It could've been a forensic countermeasure. I think she might have scratched him. These nails are also freshly cut," Spencer said.

-o0o-

"Are you sure this unsub, as you called him, is Japanese?" the local chief asked worriedly. "You're sure it isn't a racist hate crime? I've never heard of a Japanese serial killer."

"This unsub is a sexual sadist, while many serial killers don't care about race, racist hate crimes aren't usually sexual and sexual killers rarely cross racial lines, and all of your victims are of Japanese descent. The unsub is most likely either Japanese or Japanese American," Hotch replied.

"What's the difference?" the chief asked.

"These women are all American citizens, brought up in this country. If the unsub is a Japanese national it could indeed be a hate crime. American raised women, even those from Japanese family backgrounds, have a lot more freedom and have integrated much of the western culture into their day to day lives compared to women in Japan even today. A traditional Japanese man may find these women confronting and disrespectful, without them having meant to offend him," Hotch explained. "He could see them as abandoning their cultural background and rejecting the behaviours that truly make them a Japanese woman.

"Anything from the coroner?" Hotch asked not really hoping for much that hadn't already made the report but if anyone could find something it would be Reid.

"Nothing on the more recent victims but there were two differences on the first body, suggesting that this was his actual first kill and less well planned than the others. Bruises on the neck from a failed attempt at manual strangulation perimortem, the bruises didn't appear until hours after death so it was likely immediately prior to the ligature strangulation. According to the bruises, the hands were approximately the same size as Morgan's. The fingernails were freshly cut and there was glue left on the nails, I doubt she would've gone out like that, I think he removed her false nails after death, so she probably scratched him. The wounds would've healed by now but we might be looking for someone who had scratch marks or suddenly started covering up more for a couple of weeks about a month ago, but the coroner said the sex was probably rough but consensual so the scratches in question might be on his back. We shouldn't rule out a suspect for lack of visible wounds," Spencer reported.

"So, the first kill was spontaneous?" Seaver asked.

"It's certainly possible. There's no sign of any wounds on any of the bodies being 24 hours old at the time of death so however he abducted them it probably wasn't by force, and the vaginal bruising is indicative of violent consensual sex not rape," Spencer concluded.

"He uses a ruse of some kind," Emily speculated. "So that makes him confident, articulate and probably attractive, these are beautiful women."

"Nothing stood out at the dump sights so far," Morgan replied. "Except for the lack of camera's in the surrounding areas. We're working in reverse, heading to the first dump site now."

"Are these camera blind spots, that unique?" Rossi asked.

"More to the point, who would know they were blindspots?" Emily asked.

"Anyone involved in the installation, maintenance or monitoring of the cameras, the local law enforcement and any local street criminals would also have developed some knowledge of where the cameras are and therefore where they aren't. Some of them are positioned to be difficult to notice but they aren't actually hidden, and of course the gangs operating in that area would know and share information about the cameras with their members," Spencer replied.

"So that doesn't actually tell us much except that the unsub has a good knowledge of the area and may be highly observant or have worked installing or monitoring the surveillance cameras?" Morgan said. "These don't have any of the hallmarks of any gang killing I've seen. I wouldn't have thought the Japanese street gangs are that much different to the Chicago gangs."

"The biggest difference would be the level of ruthlessness in most of their members," Spencer replied. "More like the older Chicago gangs of the sixties and seventies than the gangs of today. But you're right these don't look gang related, the victimology is completely wrong for that, they don't normally go after women and the signature is too unique to be more than one unsub."

"So it really doesn't tell us anything," Seaver said.

"No but it does give us some indication of the next potential dump sites. I've asked Garcia to find out how many of these blindspots occur in the unsubs comfort area, there may not be too many more," Spencer replied.

"Good work" Hotch muttered, "Emily was there anything new from the families and friends?"

"Nothing Hotch," Emily replied. "Though that could be partly due to cultural reasons. None of the family were willing to say anything negative or critical about the victims. They all left work the evening they went missing at the usual time in the usual way, none of them had mentioned having special plans or a date or anything, in fact Nat spoke about being tired and looking forward to an early night. Though she did work for some elderly and very traditional Japanese employers who were friends of her grandfather's, so she might not have spoken about dating."

A/N: Thank you to Locket1, Cokeheller, julschristine975, Rori Potter, .Jynger, Rainbow2007, Avirra, Guest, luramos, ahowell1993, Hedwig Edwiges, MPPC, Criminal Minds Queen, DS2010, Night69Raven, leahk80, knuckles 8, ladytokyo, BMS, GUEST, serenityselena, Erimenthe, tannerose5, SharonE68 and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"There are cameras at the first dump site, so your idea's a bust, Reid, " Morgan said calling him as soon as he saw them, obviously pleased that Reid had been wrong but trying not to keep the overtly gloating tone out of his voice.

Spencer frowned for a moment. If there were cameras, why didn't they have the footage of the body being dumped. The LA police were too efficient to miss something obvious like that. He rang Garcia.

"Office of the goddess of all knowledge, worship gratefully acknowledged," Garcia answered irreverently.

"Garcia, Morgan said there are cameras at the first dump site, but the police report didn't mention them. I know it may be a long shot but can you see how long they keep their recordings and if they have any footage we don't already know about?" Spencer asked.

"Sure thing, hit you when I have something," Garcia said efficiently without any social chatter, suddenly all business.

Spencer sighed. He didn't trust Garcia enough to try to be close friends with her again without worrying that she'd think she could interfere in his personal life once more, but her refusal to socially interact with him at all unless the others were there, was disconcerting, he'd never known her to hold a grudge like this.

"Sorry Dr Reid, the cameras were installed in July, a month after Emika Sakaguchi was dumped so there are no records," Garcia rang back.

"What day in July?" Spencer asked.

"Does it matter what day they were actually installed? They went operational on July twenty third," Garcia replied.

"It might matter, July 23rd is only a few days after Kazuno Nishikawa was found," Spencer said thoughtfully. "Is there a way to tell if the cameras were physically in place on the night of the 19th when the second body was dumped? Or if the workmen were there installing them that night?"

"Sugar, I can find anything! Dr Reid," Garcia stated, cringing when she realised how informally she'd been speaking. "Hit you back."

"Thanks Garcia," Reid rang off.

After hearing from Garcia again with the information he'd asked for, Spencer went to report the new information to the rest of the team.

"Derek's right, I jumped to an incorrect conclusion, the camera blindspots might not mean that the unsub has inside knowledge on the locations of the cameras across the city. The first dump site had cameras installed after the first body was found. Actually, they had been installed but unfortunately were not yet operational on the night of the second victim, Kazuno Nishikawa's death," Spencer reported. "So, it could be just luck that Emika Sakaguchi was dumped in a camera blind spot, and it's possible the unsub could have planned to use the same dump site but then saw the cameras when he went to dump the second body and the cameras scared him off and drove him to looking for a new site without cameras."

"In fact, it rules out the people who would've known the cameras hadn't yet started recording," Emily said.

"So, all the people previously on our list of suspects?" the local chief of police asked disappointedly.

"No, we didn't have a suspect list, the cameras are just one way to narrow down the list, it always could've been someone who knew the area or who was observant and careful enough to look for the cameras before getting the body out of their vehicle."

"If Reid's right and the unsub planned to dump the second body in the same place until he saw the cameras he probably panicked when he saw them, he might have given himself away," Emily said.

"Except the cameras weren't yet recording so we have no way of knowing who did that," Seaver said.

"But he already had a body in his vehicle and if he saw the cameras then he would have been desperate to find a safe dump site. He wouldn't be comfortable keeping her too long or driving too far with her, even if she was in the trunk," Spencer said.

"Yeah he could have scoped out the later dump sites in advance but he would've been desperate to find a place to get rid of the second body," Emily agreed.

Morgan rang Garcia, "Baby Girl, can you check all the other cameras between the first and second dump site? You're looking for a vehicle travelling from the first site to the second in a suspicious way, it needs to be a van or sedan where a body could be concealed."

"Suspicious how Mon Ami?" Garcia asked.

"Look for someone driving slowly and in a non-direct route, doubling back through the less populated areas looking for a place without cameras," Morgan said.

"There is a closer area without cameras. They would've just about had to drive through it if they were searching all the alleys," Garcia commented.

"Yes, but we don't know what was going on there that night. There might have been some other reason he chose not to dump the body there," Morgan said. "Without the cameras we can't tell but there could've been regular foot traffic or a transient living there and the police do try to hit known camera black spots when they're cruising."

"I've got one, there was a small green car that doubled back through every lane he drove past from the first dump site until the second, then drove directly back to the freeway after going through the Harvard Place area," Garcia said. "The car wasn't seen near any of the abduction sites or the other dump sites and I can't find any other car near all of them either."

"So, he has access to multiple vehicles. Perhaps he works at a car dealership or as a mechanic. Can you trace who owns the vehicle you did find?" Hotch asked.

"Way ahead of you bossman, I sent details to your phones," Garcia replied.

"Thanks Garcia, good work. Find out as much as you can about him," Hotch ordered.

"He's a her, the car belongs to a 53 year old woman," Garcia said.

"The unsub is male. Find out who else could've had access to her vehicle," Hotch said. "Also if the car's recently been repaired or serviced and if so where the work was done."

"Will do. Garcia out."

"Is it possible that the unsub is female. We don't have DNA. They could've used a foreign object?" Seaver asked.

"You mean they could be faking a sex crime to throw off the investigation?" the local police asked.

"No. The vaginal injuries don't suggest that, the lack of DNA means the unsub used a condom which fits with the injuries from rough consensual sex," Spencer replied. "And penetration with a foreign object would still be considered a sexually motivated assault and is extremely unlikely to be carried out by a woman, even as a countermeasure."

"The car belongs to Ramika Tsuchida, she's owned the car for over a year and also owns a Japanese restaurant, Tsuchida Sushi, they have a takeout delivery service but she doesn't keep a record of drivers anywhere on line. In fact, other than the website ordering facility there's very little on-line presence. There's no record of any payments to employees. Even her bank accounts don't quite add up, her income and expenditures are way too high for the number of employees she claims unless a lot of them are off the books payments," Garcia rambled. "None of her cars were in for repair or servicing on the night the body was dumped."

"Could she be selling something else through her restaurant?" Morgan asked.

"If she's selling drugs then either it's really small scale, I mean selling to close friends only small scale, or she's a really bad cook and using the profits to prop up her failing restaurant. There's no sign of that sort of extra income anywhere else in her life, and no sign that she's using herself," Garcia reported.

"Send us the details of the restaurant, and we'll pass our suspicions along to the local law enforcement after we've apprehended our unsub," Hotch ordered.

Sending it to your phones now," Garcia reported cheerfully.

"Who fancies Japanese for lunch?" Seaver asked smiling.

Hotch looked at his watch, "JJ, Morgan, go now, get a list of drivers to Garcia, especially the off books drivers. Call Garcia when you get there. I want her to monitor who Ramika Tsuchida calls after speaking to you," he ordered. "Garcia can you get access to her phone records, business and personal. I've a feeling this driver, whoever he is, might not be on the books."

"There aren't many Japanese illegal immigrants," Emily said.

"And those that are are mostly running from the gangs they were involved with in their own countries, they wouldn't settle in a city like Los Angeles. The gangs are mostly in the inner city and down on the docks but the restaurant would still feel too close to them even though neither Ramika Tsuchida or her restaurant have any known connection to the street gangs and it's not in typical gang territory. But the Japanese are typically a very ambitious and work oriented culture, there aren't many law abiding Japanese who would be content to drive food delivery for a living unless he was a student and we've profiled the unsub as older than that. The victims might've been chosen because they disrespected the unsub in some way, or made him feel they looked down on him," Spencer suggested.

"One of them was a prostitute," Seaver protested.

"A higher end prostitute, not a street walker, she was charging $2,000 per night, I can see how she could easily make a delivery driver feel inferior," Emily said.

"I doubt he knew what she did for a living if he only delivered food to her," Spencer said.

"Or he recognised that he'd seen her add somewhere and knew he couldn't afford her," Seaver suggested.

"Either is possible and we can't guarantee he met these women through his work as a delivery driver," Hotch reminded them. "Garcia did any of these women have charges to this restaurant on their credit cards in the weeks before their murders?"

"No boss man but their delivery adds and menu say they do accept cash on delivery," Garcia reported.

"But most of them aren't the type to have large amount of cash on hand. They would've used their cards," Emily said.

Hotch called Morgan and JJ, "We need the delivery logs since 48 hours before the first murder," he ordered.

"If they keep them, if they're running a partially cash business they might not," JJ said doubtfully.

"She'd have some sort of record of who was driving which car when, if only to be able to pass on the traffic fines," Morgan said.

-o0o-

"We've got the delivery logs for the last couple of weeks but Mrs Tsuchida said they don't keep them longer than that," Morgan reported, his tone showing he didn't believe her. "She also gave us three names of her drivers but I worked in a pizza joint in college and three drivers isn't anywhere near enough for the number of hours they're open, I've seen two working right now. She didn't realise JJ and I had come in together so JJ stood back and let me do all the talking and then stayed to order us some food and watch what she did when I left," Morgan reported.

"We will wait to see what JJ and Garcia have for us and if we need to I'll ask the Cheif to send some uniforms out to pick up the drivers during the lunch rush," Hotch decided.

"She made a call to a burn phone, I'm sending the general area to your phones but I couldn't pin it down beyond a couple of blocks," Garcia said dissatisfied.

"Okay Garcia. It's a start, did you get enough information to monitor that phone?" Hotch said.

"Of course I did honey, but it was turned off as soon as the call ended. I've set my babies to alert me if it's turned back on," Garcia replied.

"Don't call me Honey," Hotch reprimanded almost automatically.

"Sorry Bossman," Garcia said, internally cursing herself at the second slip up of the day.

JJ rang a few minutes later. "She made a call as soon as Morgan left. It was in Japanese but I half expected that and so I'd set my phone to record the call. I got as close as I could and it's only her half of the conversation but hopefully it will be clear enough to translate and will tell us something," JJ said. "I got food to have an excuse for being there, it's a little early but I had to order something to divert suspicion, so sorry for those who didn't want Japanese. It's smelled good so it should at least be edible."

"Understood, good thinking on the recording," Hotch said.

"It might not be admissible in court if your agent hadn't identified herself," the local sheriff said worriedly.

"JJ was a customer standing in the public part of the restaurant waiting to be served, Tsuchida knew she was there, and should have no expectation of privacy. She is also not suspected of committing the crime or of knowingly aiding the perpetrator," Hotch reminded him.

"But she was speaking Japanese, JJ is a blond Caucasian, Tsuchida wouldn't expect her to understand the conversation."

"Agent Reid is also blond Caucasian and he speaks Japanese and a dozen or more other languages, appearance is not an indicator of knowledge," Hotch pointed out.

"We've achieved a lot this morning so far so I suggest we break for lunch, see what's on JJ's recording and see if we can come up with another way to find the unsub," Morgan said.

"We need to bring the drivers in during their lunch rush. It will be too difficult to follow them during evening rush hour," Hotch countered before issuing the team new orders.

"Dave and Seaver, I want you to head to the restaurant and tail the next delivery driver to leave. Stop and question them about the other drivers after they've delivered their meal, Try not to keep them too long unless they can tell you anything useful, we want to try to avoid attracting Tsuchida's attention if we can. She either knows who the unsub is and is covering for them or she's covering up something else," Hotch ordered. "Emily you're with me and we will take the delivery driver after that. Morgan you and JJ wait for us if you can and we'll exchange some of that food but if you see a Japanese delivery driver leave follow them and let us know. Don't intercept until they've made their delivery. And send the recording to Reid to arrange translation."

-o0o-

Spencer translated what he could of the tape and sent it to Tim for independent verification , since there wasn't a Japanese speaking officer at the precinct at the time. "Bad news Hotch, she warned the person she called that the officials were looking for him and to disappear. She used a first name but it's too common in both Japan and Japanese Americans over the last seventy years to be much use until we catch him. I've asked Garcia to dig further into her family, romantic liaisons and close friends' children. He isn't just a casual employee if she's willing to lie for him like that. That's backed up by the familiar but respectful language she used, he's someone she sees as an equal and probably knows reasonably well," Spencer reported.

"The driver we talked to doesn't know much. He said he thinks there are about six or seven drivers at the moment but they come and go fairly frequently and he only works the lunch shift so there might be more that work only in the evening or overnight that he wouldn't have met. They do deliver from 1100 until 0500. They all drive both cars and the keys are left on a hook in the kitchen, anyone with kitchen access could have taken them so the unsub doesn't necessarily have to be a driver. He only knows one Japanese driver but doesn't know his real name, they call him Mako, and there are several Japanese chefs. He's willing to come in and sit with a sketch artist when his shift finishes at two," Dave reported in.

"You got more than we did, this driver claims this is his third shift and he hasn't met a Japanese driver" Emily replied.

"We've got a little more, the driver tells us there are a couple of Japanese friends of Ramika Tsuchida who she calls in to drive for her when they can't get anyone else. He only has first names for them but does know they both arrive within approximately twenty minutes of being called night and day. He's also willing to sit with a sketch artist but he doesn't finish until 2100."

"Pull him in now, have him call in sick and offer to reimburse him the lost wages. hopefully that will get Tsuchida to call in one of these men," Hotch ordered. "Dave and I will head back to the restaurant to question the next drivers."

"But why? She won't call him in if he's the man she called to warn to stay away," Seaver said.

"No, but if we can pick up and clear the other one it will at least tell us which of Morgan's driver's sketches to put out on the BOLO, and there's still no guarantee she didn't warn off the wrong man because she thought Morgan was looking for him for something else. Morgan didn't give her any details and very few women would even entertain the idea that a friend of theirs could be a serial rapist murderer," Dave replied.

"So, couldn't we send someone else in to tell her we're looking for a serial killer?" Seaver asked.

"It's not that simple, you cannot accuse someone without proof, she simply wouldn't believe us. We profiled this unsub as being attractive and having excellent social skills so he will be one of those unsubs that none of his friends and neighbours would ever suspect," Hotch replied.

They continued to collect and question the drivers picking up and holding the Japanese man the other drivers had identified as the personal friend of Ramika Tsuchida. He was able to give them the name and contact information for the other friend that drove for her when she needed them, and when the other man's residence was searched they found ample evidence to arrest him for all four murders and to rescue a fifth victim less than an hour after she was abducted. There was probably a lot of therapy in the poor girl's future but she had only just become aware that the date she thought she was on was an abduction and she had not been seriously harmed.

There was more than enough evidence to get a conviction and the profile didn't point to there being any previous victims but Hotch was never anything other than thorough and was determined to try for a full confession before putting the case to bed.

"Wow! That was the quickest case we've ever solved. I can see why they were so keen to get you back Dr Reid," Seaver said enthusiastically as they watched Hotch and Rossi interrogate the unsub.

"Yes the team's solve rate remained high but the average length of their cases increased when I transferred to the IRT, but this was exceptionally quick. We got a break with that camera being installed when it was. It wasn't really profiling though, it was more plain old detective work, we picked up a pattern in the body dump sites and then Morgan noticed a detail the locals had missed that refuted that pattern and told us what to look for on the night of the second murder," Spencer replied matter-of-factly, typing on his tablet.

"What are you writing?" Seaver asked.

"I'm starting my case report. I have plans for tonight and if I get it finished before we get back, I'll be able to leave directly from the airport," Spencer said absently.

Hotch and Rossi had no trouble breaking the man in interrogation and it was as they thought. He had chosen them because he believed they abandoned their cultural values. He hasn't met the women through the restaurant but had just borrowed the car to dump the second body because his own car wouldn't start and he had no valid reason to have a work car that week. With the evidence and the confession along with a total lack of remorse, the DA committed the case to trial, unwilling to accept any deal that did not include life without parole. The team packed up and headed home.

"You never told us how Garcia finally got you over your fear of technology," Morgan said teasingly.

Spencer gave him a dry look. "You forget I have a PhD in Engineering, I couldn't have got that without using a computer. I don't like to read on a tablet because they still don't make one that can anywhere near keep up with my reading speed. But for getting my reports done so I can go straight home from the plane, it's fine," Spencer replied tersely, without even slowing his typing.

"You have a hot date?" Morgan said leering.

"As a matter of fact, I have plans though I doubt you would call it a hot date," Spencer agreed. "My girlfriend's parents are in town and we're going out for dinner."

"Meeting the parents, things are getting serious," Emily teased. "Scary, are you worried?"

"Not at all, her parents like me, we spent the weekend with them a couple of months ago," Spencer replied sounding more bored than anxious.

"Emily's right. That's not a hot date, that's heading into serious relationship territory there, Pr…" Morgan began

"Do not finish that sentence, or I will have to give you a formal reprimand," Hotch snapped.

"Thank you for the warning Agent Morgan but I was already very aware of the current status of my relationship," Spencer said coldly.

Several minutes later Hotch's laptop dinged announcing mail received and Spencer put his tablet away. Hotch opened the attachment and read through the report. "Good work Reid. You can go as soon as we land. As for the rest of you I expect your reports on my desk before leaving tonight. That way you can take tomorrow of and won't have to come in again until Monday."

Groans turned to smiles as the rest of the team pulled out their laptops and began work.

Spencer exchanged a wry smile with Hotch.

"Are your in-laws in town all weekend Reid?" Hotch asked careful not to say their names. If Reid wanted the team to know who his girlfriend and her parents were, he'd tell them himself.

"No they've been here all week they leave early Sunday morning, Henry and I could meet you and Jack at the Smithsonian at 1300 if JJ and Will are agreeable to lending me their son on Sunday," Spencer said.

JJ smiled and pulled out her phone. "Will's working Sunday and I'd appreciate the time to myself," she agreed after checking her husband's updated roster.

"1300 and it's your turn to pay for the ice-cream," Hotch agreed nodding.

A/N: Thank you to luramos, julschristine975, Guest, Village-Mystic, mooneysfate, Rainbow2007, Rori Potter **,** .Jynger, ladytokyo, DS2010, BMS, ahowell1993, knuckles 8, SharonE68, Criminal Minds Queen, serenityselena, jadethetroll, mother oracle, Butteranime and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Spencer arrived home just in time to quickly wash up and put on fresh clothes before they had to leave. Ingrid had laid out the clothes she wanted him to wear and Spencer smiled as he pulled them on. He didn't mind her making choices for him like that and she'd done well with fitting in with what she knew he would be comfortable in. The clothes were almost exactly what he'd planned to wear right down to the converse, the only difference was that Ingrid had re-ironed the shirt to make the whole outfit look a little sharper. She drove them to the restaurant and her parents were already there waiting outside.

"You should have gone in, we didn't expect you to wait out in the cold," Ingrid scolded lovingly as she hugged her mother.

"Good to see you Sir," Spencer said offering his hand to shake.

"Ingrid told me you don't like shaking hands, you don't have to force yourself for me," Lengyel Thomball said. "I'm just glad you got back to town before we have to leave."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be here before tonight…" Spencer began.

"Don't worry Spencer, Ingrid explained your job is highly unpredictable and out of your control," her mother said pulling him into a hug. Spencer barely stopped himself from squeaking in shock. "I can't say I would enjoy living with someone that can be called away at any moment like that, but I guess someone's got to do it and I'm glad to know there are people like you keeping us safe."

"Shall we go inside?" Ingrid said.

They had a very pleasant dinner, Ingrid shared stories of her work and her parents asked Spencer more about his work and his studies.

What made you choose to go back and study literature?" Bernadett asked. "I would have thought psychology, sociology or a science would be more your scene."

Spencer blushed. "I wanted something completely different from what I'd already done and from the work I'm doing now, and to be honest I wanted to do something where I'd meet some normal people who had nothing to do with criminals, profiling or law enforcement."

"To meet women you mean?" Ingrid teased.

Spencer blushed as he always did when she brought this up, even though he knew she was teasing him because of his reaction. "Well that was part of it. I don't do very well in the club scene I'm too awkward and it's too difficult to talk. A friend suggested I should give up on pubs and clibs and go somewhere I feel comfortable, which I always have in college classes. I didn't want a one night stand and in my experience the best relationships grow from friendship and shared interests, but I just wasn't meeting anyone normal through my work or my teaching. Anyone interested in seeing me privately usually ended up way too interested in my work or the criminals we catch."

"And did you make any friends other than my daughter?" Berndett asked.

"I did, we regularly meet up with several other friends we made in the class and there's some guys who meet up at local amateur poetry readings or down the local pub most weekends though I can't always join them," Spencer replied. "As well as my study group that I still meet with on Tuesday nights when I'm in town."

"Has Ingrid met your team?" Lengyel asked.

"Not yet, I've not long returned to the behavioural analysis unit. She did meet all of my last team, the international response team was like a family and they welcomed Ingrid into their extended family. We still socialise with them when we're all in town at the same time. I'm not as close to my current team except for my boss and his son, whom Ingrid has met. We often spend time with them when I have my godson for the afternoon. My Godson Henry is five and endlessly curious about everything. He loves the Smithsonian, especially the dinosaurs and the zoo," Spencer replied.

"They spend so much time together when they're working I'm not surprised they want to get away from each other when they're home," Ingrid said.

"Do you like your current team members?" Lengyel asked.

"We work together well as colleagues and I find more satisfaction in the work this team does, it's more challenging than the international team's cases and I'm not away as long though I am called out more often. But the team itself are still more colleagues than friends other than Hotch," Spencer replied, not wanting to get into the problems he'd had with the team in the past which led him to take the sabbatical on the IRT. He hoped they were beginning to get past it but Morgan and Garcia still resented him for the trouble they'd got into when he'd stood up for himself and objected to their treatment of him, and JJ and Emily both thought that he'd betrayed the team by getting his team mates in trouble and then leaving the team and were reluctant to trust him not to leave again.

Dinner was a huge success. The food was wonderful without being pretentious enough to make the elder Thomballs uncomfortable, the service attentive without being intrusive and the company more than congenial. Spencer asked about Lengyel's new project designing a new high rise apartment building and Bernadett's classes. Bernadett secured from him a promise to visit her eighth grade classes and talk about how he used science in his work and all the different places a degree in science could take them, when he and Ingrid came to visit next time. Spencer and Lengyel discussed at length the newest innovations in environmentally friendly architecture, their cost effectiveness and value in resale and long term sustainability.

Ingrid had already spent nearly a week with her parents and heard all the news from home so now she was happy to sit back and watch the three most important people in her life enjoy interacting with each other.

-o0o-

Tony groaned aloud when the fourth victim in their next case turned out to be a US Navy Petty Officer. They were 30 miles inland from the coast of Mexico where their other three victims had all been last seen a week before their tortuous deaths, frequenting the tourist bars. All of the victims had been blonde blue eyed Americans. But most of the tourists in the region were American so perhaps that didn't mean much. They'd been there four days when the new body turned up and were hoping that they'd get more information from the fresh crime scene but it was obvious that this was only the dump site, so they were still looking for a tertiary crime scene.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked.

"He's wearing Navy Dog tags, authentic ones, or else they're the best copy I've ever seen," Tony said shortly.

"Which Navy? Ours?" Jack asked, his head already full of the difficulty having a third country involved would bring if it wasn't their navy.

"Yep, that brings the case into NCIS jurisdiction, they'll be butting their heads in as soon as we report his death," Tony replied.

"Are you going to be okay working with NCIS? I know you didn't leave on the best terms but even after what happened they wanted you to stay," Jack asked.

"It depends who they send and whether the MCRT has had dealings with them in the past. Neither Gibbs nor Ziva made a great impression on a lot of other agents in spite of Gibbs reputation as the head of the most successful investigative teams in the agency," Tony said, unsure how to explain his previous frat boy persona, developed as a defence mechanism over the years. A persona he would still have had if it wasn't for Spencer showing him exactly how it was harming him both personally and professionally.

"Which NCIS office covers this area, maybe we can get ahead of this and call them offering a joint investigation, or just to keep them up to date?" Clara suggested. "We aren't so territorial over jurisdiction not to accept their help."

"It's not us I was worried about. NCIS is a small agency working hard to mix it up with the larger agencies and a lot of their agents have a chip on their shoulder about others taking the lead in cases they think should be theirs," Tony said groaning again.

"Which office do we need to call in?" Jack asked.

Actually, I'm not sure. I'll ring Tim and ask, McGeography will know for sure," Tony said with a quick grin.

"Hopefully they are, then you can catch up with your friend in person," Jack said. He understood how it felt to let probationary agents you'd been close to move on to their next assignments out of your influence and after the disastrous ending of their former team Tony and this McGee were closer than most.

Tony flashed him a grin. "Unfortunately it's highly unlikely we're a lot closer to the west coast USA than to Japan."

"Finish processing the scene then make your call," Jack ordered smiling back even though it was a little inappropriate for two agents to be smiling over a butchered body.

-o0o-

"Hey Tony, Good morning. Where are you, it's too early for you to be calling me from DC, or is it too late?" Tim answered as he walked to work.

"Hey McTimekeeper, I'm in Mexico I was wondering if you could check which NCIS field office covers this area? We've got a serial killer, a real sadistic murderer, but his latest victim is wearing Navy dog tags though he seems to fit the victimology in other ways. We don't think that has anything to do with why he was killed but there's a fair bit of resentment against the American government in this area and we can't rule out a dual motive."

"I'll be at work in ten minutes, all I can tell you now that it's not in Japan's zone," Tim said regretfully.

"That is a pity, it would be good to work another case together," Tony agreed.

"It would, but there's still a possibility of it in the future unless you're planning on leaving the IRT," Tim agreed. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good, had a whole week off at home before this case which was nice, met a lovely lady and had a few dates. Unfortunately I had to cancel on the third date but hopefully I've told her enough about my job for her to understand," Tony replied cheerfully.

"A week off, were you hurt? You hadn't planned a vacation," Tim said worriedly.

"No McMotherhen, I wasn't hurt. Apparently, unlike some other agencies the FBI recognises that working 20 hours a day on a case deserves some R&R to regain your health and concentration levels before sending you on another case, they actually realise their agents are human beings with personal lives. I never thought the Feebs were more human than NCIS," Tony replied.

"It wasn't NCIS Tony, I work a forty to fifty hour week here now too. And Balboa never had his team working more than twelve hours a day unless there was a missing child, gave them comp days off afterwards if they did go over that and limited them to eight hour days between cases," Tim said. "Did you know that the real reason Gibbs team closure rate was higher than any other team in the building is because we worked nearly 50% more hours than any other team? My commander made me check the logs to make me realise how unrealistic my expectations were, when I expressed surprise over my new working hours. He must have contacted Vance because he had the logs ready to send me when I asked even though I don't think they'd normally be within my clearance level," Tim said.

"I knew they didn't work the hours we did but I guess I never really put it together," Tony admitted. "That means we weren't necessarily the best team in the agency."

"It doesn't mean you and Gibbs weren't the best, after all you were still carrying me and Ziva," Tim countered.

"You didn't need carrying, Tim, you did an exemplary job for a probie," Tony replied.

"Yes, but I was talking to Spencer about the make up of the team a while ago. At the FBI teams like the BAU and the IRT and the top counterterrorism teams usually don't take probies. The average agent has worked for six years before making it into the BAU, that's why so many other agents resented Spencer when Gideon accepted him straight out of the academy, The MRCT shouldn't be allocated probationary agents either and yet it had two in a row," Tim said.

"The BAU didn't just accept Spencer straight out of the academy, Tim. Gideon was the reason the Bureau bent the rules to allow Spencer to enter the academy before he reached their qualifying age and without any prior law enforcement or legal experience, and then they let him complete the profiling classes while he was undergoing basic agent training and gave him exemptions for almost all the physical requirements to enable him to graduate. Gideon recruited him from Caltech," Tony replied. "And then the BAU turned down four qualified and experienced applicants to give Spencer the position."

"God, it's a wonder he wasn't lynched!" Tim exclaimed.

"Yeah I think that's when the overprotectiveness of Morgan and the others started. They could see that he was shunned and probably bullied every time they let him out of the bullpen on his own," Tony said. "Morgan just didn't see that Spencer had grown beyond needing that level of protection and that being treated like he still did was insulting and demeaning."

"I'm about to go through security, manners here demand that I greet them properly. I need to call you back," Tim said as he entered the building and made his way to his office.

"There's no clear jurisdiction for Mexico, San Diego or LA mostly deal with Mexico but the office of Special Projects rarely would involve itself in something unless it has national security implications, where the victim was attacked because of his job or his security clearance. They don't set out to investigate regular crimes so you'll probably get sent someone from San Diego," Tim reported when he called several minutes later. "Your best bet would be to send the information to Vance and see who he sends out. Do you need an ME?" 

"No we've got one on the team here, this doesn't look like an OSPs case, so it will probably be San Diego, I don't think I've worked with any of the agents there. I better ring Vance. Talk to you soon," Tony disconnected again before dialling the Director's office and having a terse conversation informing him of the murdered Petty Officer.

-o0o-

They'd managed to identify where Petty Officer Marshall had last been seen, and where he was staying with friends. Jack and Clara were interviewing his friends while Tony and Matt were allocated to greet the NCIS agents and transport them to the office. He stood waiting at the airport gate wondering if he'd know the agent who arrived. He was surprised to see Sam Hanna and G Callen walking towards him. He'd never met either in person but had talked to them several times via MTAC.

"Hey guys," Tony greeted them smiling before performing the introductions. "This is SSA Matt Simmons, Matt this is Agent G Callen and Agent Sam Hanna from the NCIS office of special projects in LA,"

"Agents Callen and Hanna, welcome I wasn't expecting the two of you, this looks like a simple case of your Petty Officer being in the wrong place at the wrong time to attract the attention of a serial killer," Matt greeted them.

"Or it was made to look that way to cover up the hit," Sam replied. "We haven't accounted for why Petty Officer Marshall was in this part of Mexico. Have you?"

"From his movements the days before his death he looked like a regular tourist, he was vacationing with a couple of college buddies," Tony answered.

"But first impressions can be deceiving," Callen interrupted rudely.

"True, I guess you can investigate his work life better than we could, was he involved in anything classified?" Tony said peaceably.

"You know we couldn't tell you that. Now that you're not one of us," Callen snapped.

"Well can you at least tell me or my team leader when you confirm whether your Petty Officer is just a random target of our serial killer, or if there is a reason to believe someone kidnapped and tortured him to death and killed three other people the same way beforehand to cover up the reason for his kidnapping?" Tony asked sarcastically.

"You think that's realistic?" Callen scoffed.

"No I think he was a random victim, but I also don't think that Vance would have sent two of his best undercover operatives if it wasn't possible that it's more than that," Tony retorted. "Unless he sent you to investigate me for some reason."

They arrived and Callen threw open the car door almost before the car had come to a complete stop and walked off without waiting for directions.

"What's crawled up his ass?" Matt asked Sam as the other NCIS agent walked away.

"He partnered with Jenny Shepard and Gibbs in Europe in the past, they were pretty close. He doesn't like how your boy destroyed their careers and then jumped ship," Sam replied, loudly enough for Tony to hear.

"I wasn't gunning for the Director or Gibbs. I was trying to prevent the deaths of NCIS operatives in Israel and related places by stopping a Mossad assassin handler from being given a free pass access to all our computer systems and information. Not to mention Gibbs was risking having all our cases thrown out and murderers put back on the streets by allowing a Mossad officer who has no official training in investigations or maintaining the chain of custody handle evidence without supervision.

Hell! I went to Gibbs first, more than once but he wouldn't listen. Ziva David was a personal friend of Jenny Shephard's having saved her life in the past, we objected to Ziva's inclusion in the team when she first allocated her to us, but she insisted on it, so I knew she wouldn't listen. I gathered enough proof and went over her head until I found someone prepared to listen," Tony tried to explain. "Come to think isn't it a little suspicious that she engineered the situation where she saved Gibbs' life too, it seems to be a habit of hers."

Matt and Sam saw Callen turned and stared at Tony back for a moment, unwilling to admit to the undeniable truth of what Tony was saying.

"And jumping ship?" Callen asked from behind him.

Tony refused to turn and look at him. After years of being snuck up on by Gibbs he might not have managed to develop eyes in the back of his head but he had learned to suppress his startle reflex while in the field. "Gibbs anger made it impossible for us to stay," he replied calmly.

"Us?" Sam asked.

"Me and our Probie McGee. When I resigned Gibbs planned to return to being a two person team and dump all the SFA responsibilities and paperwork on Tim who has been a field agent for just under a year so I had to get him out of there too," Tony replied. "He's still with NCIS, at the Japan field office but Vance was trying to block his transfer."

"Gibbs wouldn't do that!" Callen insisted.

"I think he wanted to convince Vance to bring Jenny Shepard back as his SFA by refusing to accept anyone else onto his team. They had something going on between them," Tony offered.

"He always was a bloody idiot about red heads," Callen said sighing. "But how could he think that NCIS would ever hire Jenny again?"

"The same as he thinks he can bulldozer his way into getting anything else he wants," Tony said shrugging. "Problem is, since Jenny Shephard took the directorship he's gotten away with it and it's gone to his head. I'm sorry about your partners Callen but I truly had no choice. I had to do what was right for NCIS and our country. It was a matter of national security. I tried to warn him, but it was one more instance where he believed he could make things turn out exactly the way he wanted them to in spite of all the warning flags to the contrary."

"Let's put this behind us and try to find out if your dead petty officer was a victim of opportunity or if killing him was part of a master plan. Then the two of you could go your own way and hopefully you won't cross paths with DiNozzo again," Matt said.

"Gentlemen, this is our team leader UC Jack Garrett, SSA Clara Seger, SSA Mae Jarvis our ME and SSA Russ Montgomery is on the screen, guys this is NCIS Special Agents G Callen and Sam Hanna," Matt introduced.

Jack noticed that Tony was hanging back out of Callen's line of sight and was uncharacteristically quiet. He raised an eyebrow at his new agent who shook his head slightly in response. Seeing that Matt had noticed the exchange he looked at him questioningly and the younger agent frowned. As soon as he could he had a word with Matt and got the whole story before approaching the NCIS agents needing to get this sorted before it could affect their case.

"I don't care what problems you have with SSA DiNozzo but he's a valued member of my team. I didn't think I needed you involved, so if you continue to refuse to work with him then I'll have someone drive you back to the airport," Jack said firmly.

"He's been telling tales and causing trouble again," Callen sneered.

"He didn't say a thing," Jack replied unimpressed. " I'm serious, you need to leave your issues at home. We have enough resistance from the locals without having fighting within the team. We already have four dead young men and we're racing against the clock to prevent another one going missing."

Sam nodded and promised to keep his partner in line. "I think they came to an understanding in the car. That's why G was so pissed when he thought DiNozzo had said something."

"Nobody said anything to me. I'm a trained profiler, I could see the tension between the two of them the moment you got out of the SUV," Jack said.

-o0o-

Tony cursed when his phone rang at four in the morning.

"DiNozzo," he barked.

"We have another missing tourist that fits the victimology," Jack said.

"Seriously, someone reported their friend missing at three something in the morning?" Tony exclaimed disbelievingly. "He's probably passed out drunk in a ditch somewhere or he got lucky tonight and will turn up sometime tomorrow."

"His wife reported it. He's diabetic and can't get passing out drunk without risking his life," Jack explained.

"Technically, I think he could, it's low blood sugar that's imminently life threatening, it's just a really stupid idea for your long term health. Has she checked the hospital?" Tony countered.

"Yes and so have the police, they also checked all the unregistered docs in town too. His mates say he left them to walk home before midnight but he never made it," Jack reported.

"Mistress? Or picked up a girl somewhere? Or maybe a guy?" Tony suggested hopefully.

"No sign of one," Jack said chuckling. "Get your ass down here. Ten minutes."

"On my way Boss," Tony said automatically.

"Where's Callen and Hanna?" Matt asked as they met.

"Didn't see the point in getting them out of bed. This guy runs a hardware store in Idaho. It's nowhere near a Naval or Marine base and he has no obvious connection to the Navy," Jack replied.

"You checked he doesn't have a close friend or family member in the Navy? No one that he could be used against as leverage?" Tony asked seriously.

Jack sighed. "I'll ask Monty to check."

"Have him check the earlier victims too. If Callen and Hanna are right and their Petty Officer's 'top secret whatever' is the unsub's real target they may have had a motive for the other murders too," Tony suggested.

"The idea that they could commit three or four ritualistic murders just to hide taking a Petty Officer, is ridiculous isn't it?" Mae asked.

"That depends on what exactly Petty Officer Marshall had access too, but unless they hired a genuine psychopath or a expert in psychological profiles of serial killers I doubt they would have managed to hit the profile of one so closely. There are ritualistic elements of these murders that can't be explained as part of an interrogator or hit man's job." Tony said.

"What kind of thing could be worth killing five people just to hide kidnapping one?

They didn't have him for long. They couldn't have tried to ransom him for information or access or Callen and Hanna would already know," Matt argued.

"Keep in mind that if this is espionage, depending on what information they got from Petty Officer Marshall and what they plan to do with it, the eventual death toll could be in the thousands, these five aren't going to matter in the grand scheme of things. It could be anything from a list of undercover agents working in the buyer's country to the specs for a new stealth drone or the encryption key for naval communications. The fact that they left the body to be found so quickly with his dog tags still on him, means that they didn't want to use his access codes to get into somewhere they shouldn't. Knowledge of his death would cause him to be removed from the system so they can't be using his fingerprints or voiceprint," Tony added.

"You think they broke him?" Mae asked.

"If that's what they were trying to do, with that level of torture? Marshall was a Petty officer who'd never served in a war zone, he wouldn't have a reason to be trained to resist this method of interrogation. They would have broken him, probably long before they did half as much damage as they did, but for what? If they got what they wanted would they have kept going with as much dedication as they did? If he was on vacation, he wouldn't have anything on him to give to anyone, and if he had a memory like Spencer's we would have heard about it before now," Tony said. "The only way this can be espionage is if Petty Officer Marshall was originally in on it and they double crossed him after he handed them the information, but that doesn't seem likely, the first murder occurred long before he started his vacation. We've ruled out a copycat and while we've profiled the unsub as being attractive and charismatic enough to use a ruse I doubt he could pull off months of negotiations without arousing suspicion. If Petty Officer Marshall was betraying his friends his Navy and his country he would have been too hyper alert and paranoid to be fooled for that long. I honestly believe that he was a random target. If it was all about the petty officer then they've got what they want, why would they risk being caught by staging another murder when the FBI was already investigating."

"I agree, we will continue to investigate as if this is our regular brand of crazy, and leave it to Agents Callen and Hanna do their own thing to satisfy themselves that it's not something more sinister," Jack said decisively as they arrived at the station and he assigned jobs to everyone, hoping against hope that this latest missing young man was not going to end up being their fifth victim.

A/N: Thank you to ahowell1993, Kitten6168, DS2010, Rori Potter, julschristine975, Guest, BMS, luramos, Rogue8496, knuckles 8, Hedwig Edwiges, serenityselena, Erimenthe, Victorie96, idadri, AnimeBook's, Ayjah and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, NCIS or Criminal Minds Beyond Borders or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Callen and Sam came to the same conclusion the next day.

Or rather their technical analysts, Nel Jones and Eric Beale, confirmed that Petty Officer Marshall did not have legitimate access to any information worth kidnapping him for and Deeks and Kenzie reported that Petty Officer Marshall was well liked and efficient in his current position but generally uninterested in the more classified sections of the base, and had in fact tried to transfer to a seagoing position several times even applying for lateral transfers or slight demotion to get on board a carrier, there was no suspicion that he'd been overstepping his access or up to anything he shouldn't be before he went on his vacation. They also discovered that the bookings for the vacation were made months earlier with the couple of high school friends the team had interviewed about his disappearance, the destination had been chosen by the friends before Marshall had agreed to join them on vacation but Marshall hadn't known the details until afterwards. Callen must have also spoken to someone, most likely Gibbs, about what had happened in Washington before Tony left NCIS because he offered Tony an apology before they left.

Tony looked at him suspiciously for a moment before he nodded his acceptance. "What I don't understand is why Vance sent the two of you down here in the first place. Petty Officer Marshall's service record should have cleared him of having information worth selling almost immediately. He didn't have the clearance to be the target of an operation this big. Why not send a junior officer from San Diego?" Tony said. "The other's haven't questioned your presence but I know how quickly the service data base works, and how an incident like this would normally be investigated. I sent Marshall's prints and a copy of his DNA to the San Diego lab as soon as we had them. They should have identified him and had his records before you even boarded the plane at LAX. In which case your first stop should have been the base he was posted at. Not out here to view a crime scene the FBI had already processed and a body that had already been autopsied."

Callen blinked, then nodded. "Agent Blye and Detective Deeks went to interview his CO and colleagues," he offered.

"No offence to Officer Deeks, who I know is a highly competent detective and undercover operative, but wouldn't his skill set be better suited here liaising with the IRT and Sam's more suited to the investigation at the base," Tony said. "What was Vance up to?"

Sam shrugged but Callen looked thoughtful.

"You're as paranoid about authority figures as G," Sam commented.

"And we both came by our paranoia for valid reasons," Tony countered. "And as Joseph Heller said, 'Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you'."

Sam rolled his eyes as Callen gave a nod of understanding.

"I don't know what his agenda was, whatever went down at the Navy Yard before Vance became director and you left, it was all highly classified, even the leaks were controlled. There was minimal information available. The lack of scuttlebutt was impressive," G said.

"You think Vance sent you down here to attempt to burn me with the IRT?" Tony asked.

"Scuttlebutt is that you'd be offered your own team if you wanted to come back to NCIS, local or overseas," G replied. "And that the order for that comes from SecNAV, not Vance, and an even fainter whisper is that Vance tried to disagree and was slammed down hard."

"Vance is still only the acting Director and the word is that they're not looking at him to fill the position permanently, though the scuttlebutt can't agree who will fill the big chair," Sam added.

Callen and Hanna didn't verbally apologize for their part in the scheme but what they did was far more valuable in Tony's opinion. Once they returned to LA, they had Eric and Hetty pull in a few favours to send Monty the live satellite images of the area the victims had been found during the time period they expected the latest victim to be dumped. There were a couple of hours of blind spots where there was no satellite in position but having the feed they did allowed the locals to concentrate their patrols on the times they didn't have visual coverage.

Monty enlisted a couple of techs to help him monitor the satellite images and eventually they caught sight of a body being pulled out of the back of a vehicle and dumped.

The problem was that the area being monitored was very large, several hundred square mile, and unfortunately, the local police and the IRT were both too late on the scene to catch the unsub but from the footage they did manage to confirm it was a big tall man with darkish coloured hair driving a late model dark coloured American SUV with shooting lights on the roof. The pictures weren't clear enough for facial recognition and the low light conditions limited the number of details in his appearance available but they got a height and weight estimate from biometrics and were also able to see that he seemed to be nowhere near as pale as his victim, so probably either a Mexican or a Caucasian with a very deep tan. From there Monty was able to work his magic and find them several owners who might fit the profile.

Unfortunately, on further investigation they all either had alibis or didn't fit the profile once they looked into them more closely, but once Monty widened the search to include owners who had brothers or sons in the age range, they found a man who fit the profile perfectly. They got the likely name at the same time the bolo produced results. The SUV was seen one town over in the car park of a pub that mostly catered to tourists.

They ordered the locals to stay back and surveil the situation unless the unsub appeared to be leaving with a potential victim while they hurried to the scene and arrived in time to see him attempt to drug someone's drink. Stepping in quickly they managed to surround him as he walked out with the potential victim and arrest the unsub while rescuing the victim with minimal fuss. Though the prospective victim nearly had hysterics once he realised what his local admirer was being arrested for and how close an escape he'd had from being the next victim.

Jack and Tony broke the unsub easily enough in interrogation and he admitted to seven murders, the five they knew about and an earlier double homicide of his local boyfriend and the tourist he'd caught him in bed with. They believed this had been the triggering incident but the murders hadn't previously been linked to the others because of the lack of ritual and planning.

Tony texted Spencer that he was on his way home in the hope they could catch up but got a reply that Spencer and his team had just landed in Seattle on a serial rapist case with escalating violence that they were concerned that he'd kill his next victim. He then texted the woman he'd been seeing recently, until he'd had to cancel their last date to fly to Mexico eight days ago and was told that no she wasn't interested in trying again. That the absence had been too much for the fledgling relationship.

"And another casualty of the job," he said sighing. "I guess we can't all have Spencer's luck."

"Who wants to get together to play some ball? I could probably get enough people to play a game," Matt asked.

"Count me in. What sort of ball are we talking about?" Tony asked making the others laugh.

"Basketball, football, baseball, you name it I can rustle up a team," Matt said. "If it's baseball Mae and Clara will probably join us."

"We should make a day of it. Have a team cookout," Monty suggested. "Then Matt can bring his family too."

"I'll run it by Karen but I'm sure she'd be happy to host if we make it potluck on the salads, and desserts and BYO drinks and steaks. We should invite Spencer and Ingrid as well, it would be good to catch up with him," Jack added. "I've heard he plays a little baseball too."

"The cookout's a great idea but Spencer and his team are in Seattle. They've only just flown out there, so they'll be lucky to be back before we get a new case," Tony replied.

"Pity," Mae said.

"How's he doing? Is his team treating him okay?" Clara asked.

"He says things are still a little awkward at times, but that they're being professional. He recently upset Prentiss and probationary agent Seaver by pointing out to Hotch that the regulations for the required level of supervision weren't being met, which hasn't helped," Tony said.

"Hotch didn't out Spencer as being the reason he demanded that Prentiss and Seaver reviewed the regulations and followed them, or Seaver's time with the BAU wouldn't meet the requirements of probation and she'd have to do another probation year in another department, and Rossi backed up Hotch's decision. Has there been trouble over it?" Jack said.

"Spencer only said that they're both unhappy with the situation now. He hadn't mentioned them blaming him for it, but it wouldn't take a profiler to realise that someone had to have brought the problem to Hotch's attention for him to suddenly get involved in Prentiss' mentoring, and that as the new observer to their mentoring relationship, who also spends a lot of time with Hotch both at work and outside, he's the most likely person to have said something," Tony replied.

"Are the rest of the team aware that Spencer and Hotch spend time together outside work?" Mae asked.

"I'm not sure. I don't think either of them try to hide it though neither of them would go out of their way to flaunt their friendship, but JJ must know because Spencer takes Henry when he meets up with Hotch and Jack," Tony replied.

"If JJ knows then so do Prentiss and Garcia, I see them out together often on a Sunday morning," Clara commented.

"Just the three of them? I thought there were four women on Reid's new team?" Mae said.

"Yes, the fourth is their probationary agent Ashley Seaver, Prentiss is her supervisor so I can see why she mightn't want to socialise with them on her days off," Clara replied.

"Or perhaps that's why she wasn't invited," Matt said. "They don't exactly have a reputation for including new team members."

"Those three have been working together a long time and are more similar ages and experience than the young probie, it isn't as if was a workday lunch break they didn't invite the new agent to. They're entitled to do what they want on their day off and as you know their job makes it difficult to maintain friendships outside the team. Seaver was at the Academy in Quantico before transferring to the BAU she probably has her own social group," Jack said. "At least find out if their probie was invited and chose not to join them or was upset about being excluded, or if she even knew about it before getting all up in arms. You don't invite me to your basketball games because you know I wouldn't be able to keep up with you and probably have things with Karen and the kids or around the house I need to be doing. You wouldn't expect someone seeing the three of you out on the courts to get upset on behalf of the rest of the team being excluded." Jack knew that the team really didn't care about Seaver it was the thought that the three BAU ladies were deliberately excluding Spencer as well that truly had them up in arms.

Matt laughed. "You're right Jack. We'll leave the BAU alone and stop assuming the worst about them."

"We should invite them to a joint cookout or something so we can see for ourselves how Spencer's team are treating him," Monty suggested.

"They'd be on their best behaviour with us there, or they could be defensive that we were trying to steal their genius away again," Clara said.

"You think it might make things more difficult for him?" Mae asked.

"No, just that we wouldn't get a true picture of their feelings, you'd be better sending Tony in undercover," Clara suggested.

"I'm afraid I'm already burned with them. Spencer has already introduced me to them as his best friend and I gave them all hell for sneaking extra files into his file so he couldn't finish work early before he had to deal with peak hour in the subway with his crutches and then not offering him a ride home. Not to mention the official reprimand Morgan and Garcia got for trying to hack into my personnel records after they used the facial recognition software on the CCTV footage of Spence and I shopping," Tony replied. "Who else could go."

"I can walk through their bullpen to invite Hotch to lunch and stop and greet Spencer on the way next time we're both in the office, but it might send the wrong messages, to the wrong people," Jack said thoughtfully. "From what Spencer has said Morgan is angrier and more upset with him over Tony and the secondment than the trouble he got into over spying on Spencer or for palming his consults off on him. He thought that he was Spencer's best friend and he was irrationally jealous to find out he wasn't and then felt abandoned when Spencer left the BAU. He'd be worried that I was trying to entice him back to the IRT. The others might too, they all suffered a much higher workload with less days between cases without him on the team."

"Morgan and the rest of the BAU are going to have to deal with the fact that Spencer is our friend and we're not going to abandon him," Mae said determinedly.

"What's happened to our stats since Spencer went back to the BAU? I know theirs have improved almost back to their previous level but what about the IRT?" Tony asked.

"Our solve rate is sitting right where it was with Reid on the team, and our number of days in the field per case have increased slightly but nowhere near as much as they did in the BAU without Dr Reid's genius," Mac replied. "I hate to say it but Reid was right, he can make more difference in the BAU than he would with us."

"The others all smiled but Tony frowned.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd be happy that you replacing Spencer didn't have a negative impact on our stats," Mae asked.

"I am glad about that and proud that I can fill Spencer's footsteps as well as I have. But when Spencer see's those stats, the fact that Spence is needed so much by the BAU will make him obligated to stay there, whether he's happy or not," Tony replied.

The others nodded soberly, "Then we need to make sure he is happy there," Clara said determinedly.

"What can we do. Should we invite the whole team to a barbeque and try to talk to them," Matt asked.

"Yes but not to lecture them, that will only make them resent Spencer more. But it might help to build relationships between the two teams in the hope that we will be able to support them all to reach a better working relationship," Clara said.

"I think we could take a leaf out of Tony's book. One of the reasons he's been so much help to us is the network of contacts he is able to get expert advice from people with a fresh perspective. I think the BAU would benefit from us asking for advice in their areas of expertise as they come up and encourage them to ask us for the same," Mac suggested.

"We could also offer to provide some sort of mentoring to their probie Seaver. And maybe while advising her we can make sure she realises what an exceptional agent Reid is," Matt said. "His modesty and self-depreciating attitude can sometimes make his accomplishments in the field easy to overlook, and the way the others all treat him like a kid brother wouldn't instil observers with the belief in his competence."

The others agreed. "The kid's better at taking credit for his achievements than he was but decades of bullying is too hard to completely overcome," Tony said.

"Particularly if undercurrents of that bullying attitude starts to creep back into the team interactions," Mae worried. 'He'd be hypersensitive to it with his history."

"Another reason we should build a relationship with the rest of his team so we can nip it in the bud if it does show up," Clara agreed.

-o0o-

Unsurprisingly, it was several weeks before both teams were in the office on a Friday and Mac issued the invitation for a barbeque the following day as long as neither team was called away. Hotch was keen for the team to accept and the team was looking forward to some relaxation and the dual team party seemed a good idea. The unit chief had a fair idea why the IRT leader was looking to build communication bridges with the BAU, and he believed that closer connections between the two team might help some of his team better see the growth Reid had achieved while he was on his secondment.

Morgan was suspicious of the IRT Unit chief's motives but he liked the IRT members that he knew and couldn't see any gain in refusing to attend. The more information he had to work with the better, perhaps one of the other team members would be easier to read.

Spencer arrived early keen to catch up with his former team. "You didn't bring Ingrid," Karen said disappointed as she greeted him. "Go on through, you're first to arrive and the boys are out the back."

"I'm not too early, am I?" Spencer asked apologetically.

"Not at all Spencer, I know Mac will be glad of the chance to catch up before the others arrive," Karen said smiling at the eager to please young agent her husband had taken under his wing.

Spencer made his way through the familiar house and out the back.

"Hey Reid, welcome!" Mac called out. "How are things going with the BAU? You've had some pretty intense cases lately."

"I think things are going well, better, the team is starting to settle in to having me back," Spencer said slightly uncertainly.

"Hello Dr Reid," his youngest son, RJ added cheerfully.

"Did you bring some new tricks for us?" Emma the youngest asked.

"I did, but Hotch is going to bring his son Jack and he likes magic too, so let's wait until he's here," Spencer replied.

"You didn't bring Ingrid?" Mac asked concerned.

"I considered it. It would be a good way for her to meet the team, with you all here but I don't really want Garcia and Morgan all up in my business giving her the third degree, or to have her caught in the middle if things go badly tonight," Spencer said sighing.

"Well if you want our support when you are ready to introduce her to the team, Karen and I will be happy to organise another get together," Mac offered.

"I think I'd like that, so long as this get together goes well, but I don't want to start a disagreement between the teams if your team attack the BAU for being too nosy," Spencer agreed.

"My team is motivated to try to make tonight go well," Mac reassured his friend.

"Garcia and Morgan still blame Tony for me leaving the BAU," Spencer warned his old team leader. "I don't know if they're aware that he took my place on the team."

"Hotch will be keeping a close eye on them. They won't be allowed to cause trouble for you or for DiNozzo," Mac promised.

"Don't worry about me Spence. Your team can't hurt me, I won't give them the power to," Tony said having heard Mac's promise as he arrived. He gave Spencer a hug before shaking hands with Mac and greeting the children.

Clara and Mae both arrived separately but stayed in the kitchen to help Karen with the last minute preparations as did Kristy when she and Matt arrived though she sent him and the children out the back. "I wouldn't go in, the girls are inside gossiping or plotting," he warned the others.

"Did you tell the BAU a later time than the IRT?" Spencer asked suspiciously.

Jack didn't bother to deny it, Spencer wouldn't have believed him anyway.

"Thank you," Spencer said softly.

Hotch arrived next with little Jack who quickly made friends with Matt's boys Jake and David. Josie McGarrett was conscripted to babysitting duty because Karen and Kristy didn't trust their husbands not to get too involved in their discussions and forget that they needed to keep a close eye on the smaller children.

Emily, JJ and Penelope arrived together, having carpooled. "Are they nice, this team that took our Baby Genius away?" Penelope asked shakily.

"They're good people, and Spencer was happy working with them. He didn't come back because he likes our team better, or because he didn't like the extended travel with the IRT but because he thinks he can be of more benefit at the BAU," JJ replied. "His leaving our team affected the length of time it took to solve each case, resulting in an increase in the number of people killed by the unsubs after our team accepted the case. The IRT results haven't declined anywhere near as much since he came back to us so whoever they replaced him with must be pretty good."

"So he didn't come back because he missed us?" Penelope said disappointedly.

"He hasn't been acting like he missed us at all," Emily replied. "He doesn't trust us with his personal life at all. I'm surprised that he agreed to this combined team BBQ."

"I'm not, we didn't organise it, they did and it's on their turf, and he got along well with their team," JJ said cynically. "They're trying to show us that Spence still belongs to them."

"But he doesn't, no matter why he came back, he did. He belongs on our team with us, we are his family," Penelope said sadly.

"We are his colleagues, I don't think Reid wants us to be family anymore, Garcia," Emily said flatly.

"It's my fault. I'm the one that snooped on him and looked up his friend," Garcia said guiltily.

"It wasn't just you, Garcia. The whole team treated me like a kid who couldn't be trusted to look after himself and to know what I wanted, at the same time as using me to do their work without once offering me a ride so I didn't have to try to catch the train with my knee. You all treated me like my injury wasn't important because it wasn't Foyet who shot me, and acted like you thought it inconvenienced you all more than it did me, and I should just get over it already," Spencer said bluntly.

"We didn't!" Emily exclaimed horrified.

"You did," Spencer retorted. "I'd still be doing at least 20% of your work, 35% of Morgan's and 15% of Rossi's if Hotch hadn't restructured it so I'd be paid for the extra work I did regardless of who it was assigned to. You never even bothered to ask if I had a reason to want to leave on time before you lumbered me with your work so you could skip out. Garcia might have been the one who got caught looking up Tony but we all know she didn't do it without encouragement and she would have shared the information with you all if she hadn't been caught, but none of you would've told me about it, just like none of you actually asked me about my friendship with Tony, nor did any of you asked about my rehabilitation sessions. I would've told you about him, probably even asked him to come and meet you all, if you'd asked."

"Is there anything we can do?" Penelope asked.

"No Garcia there isn't. Emily's right I don't know that I want to think of you as my family again, it hurt too much to realise that family doesn't mean as much to you as it does to me and you didn't care the way I thought you did, I don't want to have to go through being let down like that again," Spencer said bluntly.

Penelope's face fell as she realized how much she had failed her Baby Genius.

"But we were a family," she protested.

"If we were a family then I was the proverbial unwanted redheaded stepchild," Spencer retorted.

"That's not true," JJ protested.

"Yes it is JJ, think about it," Spencer retorted.

"What happened to us, I thought we were your friends?" JJ asked shakily.

"How could we be friends when none of you ever really took the time to get to know me?" Spencer asked.

The three women, and Morgan who had finally arrived and joined them, stared at him in shock.

"I think you all took the moratorium on intrateam profiling too far, you built up a basic profile when you first met me when I started at the BAU. I was given a job as a profiler because I am a genius I was too young, too naive, too inexperienced too nerdy and too geeky kid who had too many exemptions to be allowed in the field, or to be trusted to have your backs and to make decisions about my own life for myself. Gideon helped to perpetuate this profile by mentoring me as closely as he did and I allowed it not because I needed Gideon to look after me but because being looked after at all was a novel experience for me and I enjoyed it. The problem is that over the years you never stopped and re-evaluated that profile. I'm not the kid that I used to be to anyone except the four of you. How can we be friends if you don't respect me or see me as an equal?" Spencer asked.

"But l do respect you" Penelope protested.

"No, you don't Garcia. If you respected me as an adult able to make my own decisions about my personal life, and you would never have run facial recognition on my friends. You wouldn't do that to Hotch, Morgan, JJ or Emily," he turned to JJ and Emily. "Morgan might have egged her on out of sheer nosiness, but can either of you tell me honestly that you would have let Garcia do that to anyone else without saying anything to stop her. JJ how would you have reacted if she'd run your credit cards and told us all how many weekends you were spending in New Orleans with Will before you were ready to tell us about your relationship? Would you have felt that she betrayed your trust and privacy? Would you have thought that the team trusted you to run your own life if they were checking up on you like that? Would it have affected your friendship with the rest of the team?"

JJ looked at him sadly. "You're right Spence, we should have trusted you more," she admitted.

Spencer didn't reply, there was nothing he could say that would make any of them feel better.

A/N: Thank you to ahowell1993, jadethetroll, mother oracle, Tess, knuckles 8, Rainbow2007, Astrahan, BMS, mooneysfate, Rori Potter, DS2010, Narelle's FOURTRIS, Guest, serenityselena, SharonE68, Erimenthe, tlcroft, leahk80, .Jynger, Locket1, Lady FoxFire, Ann, kristenjones, SarahAshlyn, PrinzessTinkerbell29, jgood27, LOVESROOKIEBLUE-ANDYANDSAM , lhatz1, Heaven's Archer, Ayjah and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


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